Divergence
by The-Lady-Isis
Summary: Princesses and knights are supposed to get happily ever after in fairytales. But the real world is not like those fairytales. Hearts still get broken. Lives still get ruined. Can Bruce and Diana save their family and marriage? Sequel to 'Parallels'.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters/settings DC has copyright on. I do however own the OCs. **

**A/N: This is a sequel to _Parallels_ - if you've not read that story, you probably won't understand this one, so go read that one first. If you have, enjoy this! **

**Prologue**

"I have no choice."

"You do have a choice."

"Not if I want to keep my family safe, I don't!"

"You'll hurt them like this, you know that."

"Better hurt than dead. I can explain everything once victory is mine."

"Assuming it will be yours. If you fail, and no one else outside of this island knows of the threat-"

"I _won't_ fail."

"_If _you do, and there is no one to take up your mission, then _all _worlds will be in danger! My sun and stars-"

"It is _my_ sun and stars I am trying to protect! The one I love!"

"You'll protect them by breaking their hearts?"

"Yes. I'll plant the seeds tomorrow. Water them and- and reap the crop I sow. File for divorce as soon as I can."

"You will only harvest deadly nightshade this way."

"I know. But it is the only way. I love them too much."

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**A/N: Chapter One will be up very soon, but review please!**


	2. First Time Unlucky

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! This is where we launch into the story properly. **

**Chapter One - First Time Unlucky**

**"I'm home!"**

"Daddy!"

At the gleeful cry that issued from the kitchen, Bruce grinned automatically, and crouched. His daughter came careering out right on cue, her hands covered in flour that was then spread over the shoulders of his four thousand dollar suit. Bruce didn't take any notice of it, and only hugged her closer. Her dark hair tickled his nose until she leaned back a few seconds later.

"Did you have a good time at work?"

"Good time's not quite how I'd put it, Bells," he told her, standing up still carrying her. "What about you? School okay?"

She nodded. "It was fine. Math was boring."

Bruce sniffed the air. "Something smells good."

Bella grinned. "We're making bread. Alfred's showing me how - it's easy but it takes a _long _time."

"Everything worth having does, Miss Bella," Alfred smiled. "Now, come, we need to knock the dough back."

"Then do we bake it?" the five year old asked, wriggling out of her father's arms.

"Not yet. We have to wait for it to rise again for about an hour before we can put it in the oven."

Bella put her hands on her hips, mimicking her mother's favourite pose. "More waiting? Does it take this long at the store, Daddy?"

"Probably," he nodded. "Where's your mom?"

Bella's mouth turned down at the corners as she shrugged. "I dunno," she said.

Bruce frowned. "She didn't pick you up from school?"

"No. I haven't seen her all day."

"I picked Miss Bella up from school, Master Bruce," Alfred said, nodding at his employer's questioning glance. "The princess telephoned at lunchtime to say she'd been detained with some League business. She apologised but did say that she'd be home for dinner."

Bruce nodded, but his frown didn't go away. Neither did Bella's sullen expression. Bruce stroked her hair absently. She missed Diana - he did too. So far, though, their daughter had no idea how bad things had gotten. Diana would be home for dinner, fine. It didn't mean they'd have a conversation. It didn't mean Diana would admit that she was avoiding him. It didn't mean Bruce would get so much as an embrace from his wife. He hadn't in over a week. Hell, they hadn't slept in the same bed for that time. He'd missed her body next to his; it was only when she was asleep that he actually had a chance to touch her.

She was pulling away from him. And he didn't know why.

"Daddy?"

Coming out of his reverie, Bruce forced a smile onto his face. "Sorry, Bella. What did you say?"

"I asked if you could help me with my bike later. I'm getting better, honest, and I wanna take the training wheels off. But I don't want to fall," she added, her cheeks colouring a little. She hated not being able to do things the first time around, always had. Walking had involved a lot of tantrums.

He nodded. "Of course I'll help you, sweetie. Let me just get changed and we can practice on the driveway until the bread's ready, okay?"

She grinned, then threw her arms around his neck with a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Daddy!"

"Go get your helmet and knee-pads."

She dashed out of the room with a noise of glee, leaving Bruce alone with Alfred. "Did Diana say what kind of mission the League wanted her for?"

"She was unspecific, sir. Something only she could handle, apparently."

The slight edge of scorn in the Englishman's voice would have been highly unusual six months ago, but no longer. Bruce couldn't blame him. It was plain as day to see that Diana was avoiding Gotham, the house, her family - but neither of them knew why. Alfred had formed the opinion that she was doing it deliberately, and Bruce agreed. Neither of them knew why. Alfred's sarcasm wasn't directed at the mistress of Wayne Manor, but at whatever 'reasons' she had to be doing what she was doing.

Bruce only prayed that she wasn't doing it because of him. Because of something abysmally stupid he might have done. It was a feeling he couldn't shake off, though.

Fifteen minutes later, Bruce and his daughter were on the driveway, training wheels off and bike poised, ready to go. Bella was looking less certain about this plan now than she had been in the kitchen. "You won't let go, will you, Daddy?"

"No, Bells, I won't let go."

"You _promise_?"

"I promise."

She nodded, then got on the bike. Swallowed. "Okay, I'm gonna do this."

"Alright."

"Now."

"You have to put your feet on the pedals, sweetie."

"I know!"

She did so, and Bruce moved slightly to the side, one hand on the saddle and one on her back. "Ready?"

"Ready."

Bella started off fine, and though Bruce did have every intention of letting go - once she had the rhythm established and her balance right - he didn't. Because the air chose that moment to split in two. Acting on instinct, Bruce snatched Bella off of her bike and shoved her behind him, dropping into a defensive stance. He needn't have worried.

One figure stepped through: a familiar woman with dark hair, blue eyes. She was holding an unfamiliar, sleeping child in her arms, and carried a backpack. "Hello, Bruce."

His jaw dropped. "_Bella_? What are you doing here?"

"I need your help," she said, her voice wavering. He realised her eyes were full of tears. "Damien, he- He's disappeared."

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**A/N: Review please!**


	3. Pairs

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Here's the next chappy :) **

**Chapter Two - Pairs**

Bella sipped at the cup of coffee that had just been placed in front of her. "Thank you, Win- Alfred."

"My pleasure, madam," the Englishman bowed. "There's also a glass of juice for the little one when he wakes."

"Start from the beginning," Bruce said softly.

For some reason, Bella laughed. It was a desolate, lonely sound that made him flinch. She looked terrible; her dark hair was scraped back into a tight ponytail rather than coiffed and polished; she wore no makeup, her eyes were dark-circled and red-rimmed. Her overall appearance was haggard and pale.

"The beginning…" she murmured. "Five weeks ago, Damien left the Watchtower and went to Themyscira, supposedly. But when he hadn't made contact, we tried reaching him, to no avail. We sent Hro to Themyscira, only to find that none of the Amazons had any idea that their prince was even coming, and he certainly hadn't landed there. A week later, his jet landed on the back lawn of the manor, with a note leaving it to Bruce."

She drained her coffee cup and looked at her son, who was still slumbering on the couch next to her. She put the cup down and touched his face tenderly. The little boy stirred at the touch, muttering softly. It wouldn't be long until he woke.

"You sedated him?"

She nodded. "I wasn't sure what the wormhole would be like this time. Didn't want to scare him, but it was far easier and smoother than it was last time. As you saw."

Bruce nodded. Last time he remembered it being impossible to keep one's feet, but on the driveway Bella had been able to simply step through. "So why come here?" he asked.

"I hit dead ends. Every dead end in the book, in fact, and then some. No trace of him telepathically, no trace magically. No trace forensically. No trace financially. No sightings. No rumours. No…anything. He's gone, and I don't know where, and I don't know where to look, and I don't know what else to do." She ran her hands roughly over her face. "I hoped that Diana could help. This world runs about six to twelve months behind mine, and I thought, if there's the slightest chance she might know something…"

"You think he planned to disappear in advance?" Bruce asked sharply, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "But there was something his father wasn't telling us. Something he knew. If it's Amazon-specific, then Diana might be more willing to tell me. To help me."

The boy stirred again, his eyelids fluttering open. Bruce stood quickly. "I'll leave you to explain."

She gave him a grateful smile, then turned to her son as he woke up properly. "M-Mommy…?"

"Hey, honey. How are you feeling?"

He yawned widely. "S-Sleepy."

"Yeah, you've been asleep for a while. Want some juice? It's pineapple, your favourite."

He nodded, and sat up while his mother passed him the glass. He drank about half of it before really looking around the room. "This- This isn't home. Mommy, where are we?"

"How do you know it's not home?" she asked.

"The curtains are the wrong colour, and the couch is normally on the other side of the room," he explained.

Bella smiled tightly. "Well done. You're kind of right and wrong, Bruce. This isn't _our _home, but it is _a _home."

"What do you mean, Mommy?"

She sighed. "Imagine…another place. Somewhere that's like home, but just a little bit different. So instead of the curtains being dark blue, they're dark green."

"Okay," Bruce nodded. "So why are we here?"

"You know Daddy's in trouble, and I need help to find him. I've come here — we've come here — because the people here can help us find him."

"The people here?"

"A family like ours. You know when you play pairs, you have to match the cards together? The rabbit with the rabbit, and the cow with the cow?"

"Yeah."

"Well it's like pairs here. There's a man who's…who's my pair," she said finally, deciding it was the easiest explanation. "And a little girl who's yours. Do you want to meet them?"

Bruce thought about it, then nodded. "What are their names?"

"My pair is called Bruce, like you. You're named after him. And the little girl is his daughter. Her name is Bella."

"Like you?"

She smiled. "Like me."

Bruce looked around. "So where are they?"

"Just outside, with their own version of Winifred. Are you ready to meet them?"

Her son nodded, then took her hand when she offered it. Like his father, he was more than able to make friends easily, and he had an easy grace that people warmed to almost instantly. Nevertheless, though, he stayed close to her, for which Bella was grateful. She didn't want to let Bruce out of her sight for a single second. She'd lost Damien; she couldn't lose their son.

Still hand-in-hand, they went into the kitchen, to find Bruce and his daughter in there with Alfred. The quiet chatter stopped completely as they opened the door, but it wasn't silent for long. After a second of mute staring, Bella hopped down off her stool and stood in front of Bruce. He let go of his mother's hand quickly.

The little girl stretched out her small hand. "I'm Bella."

Her son shook it. "I'm Bruce."

She regarded him doubtfully for a second, before asking, "D'you like football?"

"Yeah."

"Wanna play?"

"Sure!"

With the children out of the kitchen in about three seconds flat, Bella let out a relieved sigh. That was one potential pitfall dodged. She looked at her counterpart with a frown as a thought struck her. "Where _is _Diana?"

"Mission," Bruce answered shortly. "But we were told she'd be home for dinner. Which will be in about five minutes."

She raised an eyebrow at his tone. "And you don't think she'll make it?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. Sometimes she makes it, sometimes she doesn't."

* * *

They needn't have worried; only a few moments later, Diana transported into the Batcave, and was in the dining room as the plates were being set down. Little Bella was out of her seat as soon as the doors opened. "Mommy!"

She threw herself into Diana's arms, who hugged her daughter only briefly before letting go. "Hello, Bella."

Watching, Bruce felt a pang of mingled anger and sadness. _No sun and stars... Please, Princess. Don't start breaking her heart too. _He stood, greeted his wife with a kiss - on her cheek, since she turned her face at the last second. She laughed in what he supposed was meant to be a gentle way, but was in fact shrill and cruel. "Honestly, you two! Your dinner will get cold."

Ignoring the sigh he gave, she moved to the table - then stopped dead as she saw the other two people sitting at the table. "Bella?"

"Princess," Bella nodded coldly. Too coldly, Bruce noted. Hadn't she said she needed Diana's help? Offending her probably wasn't the best way to go about it...

Diana was still gaping. "What- What in Tartarus are you doing here?"

"Later," Bella said. "For now, as you said, your dinner is getting cold. I'd hate for Alfred's hard work to go to waste on my account."

Falling silent, Diana sat between her husband and her daughter, and ate her dinner as ordered. The children were oblivious to the tension between the adults, and struck up a bright, cheerful conversation that it was easy for the adults to join in with as well. Bruce watched the two women though, and neither of them relaxed even for an instant. Bella didn't make eye-contact with Diana once, but she remained highly aware of her. Bruce had observed enough people to recognise the signs in others. And, after all, he knew Bella very well. As well as he used to know Diana. His wife wasn't as outwardly tense, but every so often her blue eyes would flick to Bella's face, worried and curious simultaneously. They knew something, the two of them. And he was damned if he knew what.

It wasn't hard to find adjacent rooms for Batwoman and her son, and after the children had been put to bed, the three adults retired to the Batcave. Diana stood in front of the computer, backlit, with her hands on her hips. She looked like she was preparing to go into battle.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked harshly. "Did you lose control of your League again?"

"No," Bella answered. "I came for help, yes, but specifically yours."

"Mine? With what?"

"Damien's gone missing. And whatever's taken him, the Amazons in our world aren't talking. As you can imagine, I want my husband back. I want you to-" She cut off, visibly forcing herself to calm down and gentle her tone. "I _hope_ that you can help me. I hope you'll tell me what you know, if anything. Then I'll leave and you can get back to your lives." She took a deep breath, her expression totally open and almost begging. "Please, Diana."

For a second, Bruce thought she was going to say yes. He thought there was pity and compassion in her blue eyes, empathy for Bella's pain, like there hadn't been in weeks now.

She didn't

She shrugged carelessly. "Sorry. Can't help you."

"No," Bella agreed, her shoulders slumping. "I thought you'd say that."

"I'm tired, and going to bed. Excuse me."

Without saying goodnight to either of them, and without a glance back at him, Diana left the Cave, marching back up to the manor.

Bruce sighed; Bella had her head buried in her hands. "There has to be _something_," she whispered.

"Diana wouldn't lie," he said, more harshly than he meant to. Sometimes it would be easier if she did lie. At least then he'd have some hope that this wasn't really happening. That his marriage wasn't really falling apart.

Bella laughed. "Yeah. Yeah I know. They're all about the truth." Running a rough hand through her hair, she straightened, and her blue eyes visibly hardened as the Bat took over. "You patrolling?"

He nodded. "Want to come along?"

"Thanks, but no. If it's alright with you, I'll use the computer. Research Amazon enemies."

"You haven't already done that?" he asked sceptically.

"Yeah, but you might have something I don't. I'm grasping at straws here, Bruce."

"Sure, it's all yours."

"Thanks."

He looked at Bella once more before he left to look after his city. Her eyes were wide, as if she could absorb the entire database that way. She looked utterly desperate.

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**A/N: Review please!**


	4. Dashed Dreams

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Also my thanks for DaisyJane for her help with this chapter. **

**Chapter Two - Dashed Dreams**

"_- now _move_!"_

"_This is madness - if we don't leave this place we are all dead!" _

_A clash of metal on stone. "If we don't get the head we are all dead anyway! Eyes down!"_

"_Donna, watch out!" A pause. A scream. A cry of rage. "Donna, no!"_

_A voice of reason. "Eyes down, eyes down!"_

_Anger that cannot be quenched. "You _bitch_! Let go of me, Damien-"_

"_Keep your fucking eyes closed, Artemis!" A voice that shakes in grief and shock. "She's gone, she's dead! Joining her won't help anything!" _

"_How can we-"_

"Mommy! Mommy, wake up!"

Bella's eyes snapped open at the sound of her son's voice, to find him staring at her in mingled alarm and fear. Her heart felt as though it was fighting furiously to get out of her chest, and she was drenched in a cold sweat.

Bruce shook her hands again. "Mommy, are you okay? I heard you shouting from my bedroom."

She nodded automatically, still staring around wildly. Bruce was well-aware that his mother had nightmares sometimes, though he couldn't know that those nightmares had increased three-fold since his parents' marriage had begun breaking up. "I'm fine, honey. Go back to bed."

"Can I- Can I sleep with you?" he asked. "The bed feels weird in my room."

She nodded and pulled back the duvet, hugging her son tightly as he fell asleep. Bella lay awake for a long time, thinking hard and going over her dream. Damien, definitely. His voice had been clear, though she could hear the stress in his voice. Then there had been two women: Donna and Artemis. Artemis she knew as one of Diana's patron goddesses, just as Apollo was Damien's, but Donna? There seemed to be no one in either universe named that. And whoever she was, she was now dead. That just left Damien and Artemis, apparently both in mortal peril.

_No, Bella, they're not_, she reminded herself sharply. _It was a dream, conjured up by the fact that I miss him and that I'm angry as hell with him still. On some level, I want him to hurt like he hurt me — in this case physically, since I don't know he's hurting emotionally at all. Therefore, my mind has put him in a scenario that answers that desire. _

That was backed up by the things he'd said: keep your fucking eyes closed. When Damien swore, which was rarely, he used Themysciran, or ancient Greek. Not English — except once, but that had been Darkseid invading the planet. And the idea that it could be fatal to open one's eyes could correspond to the fact that she herself had been in denial for so long.

But it had felt so _real_…

"It can't be," she whispered. She had no abilities like that, no powers at all. It was just a scary dream that she'd made up because she both missed her husband and because she wanted to behead him. Feeling her eyes grow hot, she quickly shut them and forced her mind to empty. When she joined her son in slumber, it was dreamless this time.

* * *

Bruce returned from patrol just before five a.m., a few bruises richer but without any serious injuries to speak of. There had been one bullet that clipped his shoulder, but it had only left a shallow cut. The shooter hadn't been given the chance to have another attempt at it. He changed out of the batsuit and went upstairs. He checked on Bella as he passed her bedroom; she was sleeping soundly, limbs splayed everywhere with her cuddly stuffed bat pressed tightly to her chest. Bruce smiled and kissed her forehead softly.

There was the faintest of rustling noises going past the doorway; Bruce turned to find nothing, but when he moved to the hallway, he caught sight of black hair whipped around the corner and going down the stairs. Diana, leaving before he got back and she had to actively avoid him.

_Not today, Princess. This has to stop now._ He left Bella's bedroom quietly, but then ran down to the kitchen. Even Diana wouldn't leave without eating something for breakfast. Sure enough, he found her in there, gulping down a cup of coffee.

"You're up early."

She nodded, avoiding his gaze. "You're up late."

"Patrol."

"You weren't hurt?"

There was nothing in her tone that indicated she cared, but the fact that she had asked the question meant a lot. She still cared, she was just working hard to conceal it. "Clipped by a bullet on my left shoulder, but nothing apart from that."

Her shoulders relaxed a little. "I'm glad."

"Where are you going?"

"Mother wants to see me about something, so home."

That hurt. "I thought this was home?"

"It is."

He took a deep breath, pushing back the frustration as best he could. "Will you be back in time to pick Bella up from school? She really missed you yesterday."

Diana put her mug in the sink with a sharp clack. "I'll see what I can do. See you later."

Okay, that was it. When she moved past him to the door, Bruce grabbed her forearm. "Diana. We… Obviously, we need to talk."

She stopped, and when she turned to him her face was an utter oxymoron. She was smiling — a smile that could have given the Mona Lisa a run for her money, it had been crafted with such grace and art. And like the Mona Lisa, it could only have been painted on. Her eyes, though, were almost black. Shadowed with sadness and grief. He immediately felt his heart contract. What was going on? If what she was doing was causing her so much pain, why would she keep doing it? What did she think she was _doing_?

She gently took my arm from his grip. "I know."

Then she was gone, leaving Bruce utterly baffled. _What_?

This just wasn't fair. She couldn't keep doing things like this, she couldn't. Neither he nor Bella deserved it from her. They both loved her, unconditionally, and now it was like someone else had come in and occupied her body. It wasn't a new theory — he'd certainly come across shapeshifting before, and when his wife had gone through her personality shift, Bruce had actually taken a DNA sample from her hairbrush and tested it against the database on the computer in the Cave. Physically, at least, she was still Diana.

That didn't rule out, of course, that an outside influence was controlling her mind. Another idea that had occurred to him before. Up until this point he'd avoided going to J'onn with his concerns, since for all he knew, it was still his fault. Something that he could fixed through the normal channels. But then she'd started doing it to their daughter. Bruce could cope with the relationship between he and Diana breaking apart — he hated, but he was an adult. He would _not _see his little girl go through the same pain of losing her mommy. It was totally unacceptable, and it was something that Diana would _never _do.

He didn't go up to the Watchtower for another few hours, since there were things to do before he could. Namely getting the children up and to school. The principal of Bella's school didn't mind also taking on her 'cousin' for a few days while he and his mother were in town. Bella herself was excited at the prospect of having someone who didn't know her school to show around, so dragged little Bruce out of the car and into school with a promise to show him everything. Despite the fact that her father and his mother had both told her that the world Bruce came from had exactly the same school in it. Bruce couldn't help a smile at his daughter's enthusiasm. At least her melancholy hadn't lasted overnight.

"Oh to be a kid again," adult Bella sighed as she watched the children disappear into school.

"Did you find anything on the computer last night?" Bruce asked, starting up the car again.

"Nothing I haven't seen already. Odd dreams though."

"Nightmare?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

She nodded. "But not the normal one. It was just sound, I couldn't see anything. Damien was there, as well as two other women, neither of whom I recognised. I heard their names though: Artemis and Donna. Neither mean anything to me."

"Artemis is goddess of the hunt; one of Diana's-"

"Patron goddesses, I know. Donna?"

"No."

"I was going to head up to the Watchtower to investigate Artemis a little more," Bella said.

'Investigate' meant breaking into Wonder Woman's quarters to see what she could dig up that wouldn't necessarily be on any database. Normally Bruce would have objected to that, but as he wasn't honestly sure that was his wife at all, he let it pass. Batwoman continued. "I brought the batsuit with me, so I can change and get a transport up when we get back to the manor."

"I need to speak to J'onn, so I'll accompany you."

They changed quickly, and within ten minutes were standing on board the Watchtower. It was the middle of the day EST, so aside from a few of the European heroes there was hardly anyone around. Superman and others were at work in their secret identities, and the West Coast Leaguers were most likely just beginning their day. Or still in bed, in Green Arrow's case, Batman thought dryly.

They parted company, Bella headed toward Dormitory Deck A while Batman went to the monitor room, where he found J'onn watching over Earth. "Batman."

"J'onn, I need a favour."

"With Diana," J'onn said, shaking his head at the suspicious glare he was shot. "No, Batman, I have not been intruding into your mind. One does not need to be a telepath to know how distressing her behaviour has been recently. Only your friend."

Bruce nodded curtly. "Then yes, with Diana. I'm beginning to have suspicions she's not Diana, or she's being controlled by something or someone. I don't know how or who, and I don't have any proof, but now there are two options: either that is the case, or Diana's deliberately trying to hurt her family and push us away from her. Myself I understand, but-"

_But Bella you cannot? Understandable_, J'onn nodded. "You want me to scan her mind."

"I don't need to know exactly what she's thinking," Bruce said. "Just that it's really her. She's on Themyscira at the moment-"

"No, she's training," J'onn interrupted. "In simulation room five." He pointed to one of the screens from the Watchower's CCTV, and sure enough, there was Diana, decapitating drones with a battle-axe. Huh. So she'd actually progressed into lying to him now. Wonderful.

"She did go to Themyscira earlier," J'onn continued, "but returned about half an hour ago."

"Can you scan her mind from here?" Batman asked.

The martian nodded. "I should be able to. Wait a moment." His eyes glowed orange for several moments, and he sat perfectly still, as though he were trying to be unobtrusive even in the room. Apparently he didn't want to alert Diana to his presence in her mind. After five or six minutes, the illumination in his gaze retreated and he blinked. Bruce's heart immediately sank. After his sabbatical in the human world, J'onn had become a lot less adept at hiding his emotions. And sadness, regret and sympathy were written all over his face.

"It is Diana," he said.

Batman nodded once, then turned on his heel and walked out. In that case it was no longer something to concern the Dark Knight. This was a problem that Bruce Wayne had to deal with all on his own. The disappearance of Wonder Warrior, though, was still a concern. An ally needed his help, and whatever happened in their world would in all probability happen in this one too. A League without Wonder Woman would be severely weakened. Perhaps by finding Damien they could stop Diana from vanishing in the same way he had.

He found Batwoman inside Diana's quarters, just straightening the portrait of Hippolyta on the wall. There was no sign that anything had been disturbed, but Bruce knew that she had most likely upturned everything she could in order to find something significant.

"Anything?"

"Apart from this," she said, picking up the small figure of Artemis from Diana's altar, "no. What did J'onn say?"

"Nothing important. We should return to Gotham, look for your husband there."

He turned to leave, but at the doorway, his feet were frozen to the floor by Bella's voice, low and hoarse with emotion. "We're divorced."

Bruce couldn't help but stare. It wasn't hard to pick up on the utter devastation in her voice, but… "What did you do?" he asked bluntly.

She laughed sharply, the sound splitting the air like the noise of breaking glass. "I wasn't the one who filed for it. And don't ask me why Damien did because I don't have an answer. I- I knew he wasn't happy, but I have _no _idea why. After Bruce was born things were never better. And then, a year ago, out of the fucking _blue_-" She cut off, swallowing hard. Her voice trembled with the weight of her grief when she continued.

"If it was out of the blue, you must have known that something was wrong," Batman said, frowning. "Something more than marital problems."

"No, the 'martial problems' started a year ago. He just… He started staying in the Watchtower after missions because he was tired, or he was called back to Themyscira every week, or My'ri'ah needed him on a mission that _no one _else was better equipped for, or that suddenly he was intruding in Gotham when I hadn't hinted at that in years… And then it got more obvious."

"More obvious?" Bruce questioned, bile and dread rising in equal measure.

"He got too tired for me. For us."

"You mean sex?"

She nodded. "That was part of it, yeah. But it wasn't just the physical intimacy — he stopped talking to me. I mean, we spoke, but can you imagine having to make _small talk _with the person you love? When I said we obviously needed to talk he just said he knew and left the room."

Batman sat down next to her, his legs no longer supporting his weight. Christ, that had been that morning. Her smile had been perfect, but her eyes were a totally different colour, they were that shaded by sadness. _I know_. That was it. _I know_.

"I knew it was over when he started doing it to Bruce. Pulling away from him."

"But- He's your son."

"Yes. And he was Damien's world. Even after he stopped loving me, he would still find time for Bruce. To help him with his homework or to play with him or train him- Then he stopped finding time. Decided that our son was too young for training after all, despite the groundwork Damien had laid. He couldn't pick him up from school, he couldn't read bedtime stories-"

"He must have given a _reason_, for God's sake. To Bruce at least."

She shook her head. "He didn't give one to me, why would he give one to our son? Sometimes I- I look back over the past year and wonder if it really all happened."

"How did it happen so fast?" Batman asked. "Didn't you contest the divorce?"

"No need," she said hollowly. "I asked him, pointblank, if he really wanted to leave me. He said yes."

Bruce fell silent at that. If Damien had said that, then it could only be the complete truth. Just as Diana would have done. It was the main reason he hadn't asked her. And if she said yes, then there would be no point in continuing with the marriage. He wouldn't keep her trapped if she truly did not want to. Bella hadn't contested the divorce for the same reason. She'd just let him go.

"It doesn't make sense," Bruce said. "Why would he simply withdraw from his family? There has to be something he was hiding-"

"Did his disappearance tip you off?" she snarled, voice heavy with scorn. She sighed, then pulled a folded envelope out of her belt. "I found this three days ago, in the Cave."

She handed it to him, and Bruce unfolded the letter. The script was crisp and clear. It was very short, and simply worded.

_Bella,_

_I can't tell you why. I'm sorry. I love you both. Always._

_Damien. _

"Any ideas?" Bella asked.

"One," he said shortly. "Diana's doing the same thing."

Bella stared at him. "Then you have to stop her. For God's sake, Bruce, _stop_ her!"

* * *

**A/N: Review please!**


	5. An Explanation

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Here's the next chapter, and finally some answers for you.**

**Chapter Four — An Explanation**

Batman marched to the training rooms angrier than he'd been in a very long time. How _dare _she do this to him? To their daughter! The training rooms were impossible to open once a session was in progress, unless a Founder's code was used to override it. Bruce's worked perfectly, and when the doors slid open, Diana had her battle-axe in hand, decapitating a robot drone. When no more materialised, she turned to find Bruce standing there, arms folded.

"Why did you interrupt me?" she demanded.

"Bella and Damien divorced six months ago," he told her.

He watched closely for her reaction; her eyes widened slightly, but it was quickly smoothed back into neutrality. She tossed the weapon away. "And? How does that impact me?"

"I know what you're doing, Diana. To me and to our little girl. It stops now."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Bruce locked the doors behind him, deactivated the security camera, and then pushed his cowl back. He walked toward his wife, stripping off his gloves too. Diana looked very much as though she wanted to be backing away; her body _shrank_, shoulders hunched, head down and arms crossed over her chest. Bruce grabbed her left hand and pressed his wedding ring against hers.

"Are you dead, Diana?"

"What?"

"Are you dead?"

"No," she answered.

"Am I?"

"No!" she said looking horrified at the idea.

"Then death hasn't parted us yet, you're still my wife, and you're breaking your vow."

She snatched her hand back, eyes widening. "Breaking my-"

Bruce continued, his voice merciless. "In sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better for worse, in weakness and in strength-"

"Bruce, please don't-"

"Maybe being too proud to accept help is my weakness, Princess, but you're doing it now. Whatever is going on, whatever you think you have to face alone - you don't. And I'm not going to let you. So tell me what is happening. Tell me how I can help you."

She stared at him for a long moment, and then she was in his arms, kissing him. Relief overwhelmed everything — any anger still remaining evaporated. She loved him. She still loved him, she didn't want to-

"I'm sorry, Bruce, Hera, I'm sorry I'm so sorry-"

Bruce shut her up by covering her mouth with his, kissing her hard again. They were both breathing raggedly by the time he let go, and Diana's eyes were wet. "Forgive me," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"I forgive you. Just tell me why. Why pull away from us?"

She ran the tips of her fingers over his jaw. "To save your lives. You have no idea what's coming."

"So tell me."

"If I tell you, you'll want to come with me, and you'll die, Bruce, I can't-"

"You owe me the truth, Diana. If nothing else you owe me that."

She swallowed, blue eyes darting away, suddenly fearful. Batman felt an unexpected spike of trepidation. If it was bad enough that it scared _Wonder Woman_, how bad was it? Finally Diana nodded again, looking back at him. "Alright. But if I owe you the truth, then I owe to it to Batwoman as well."

He couldn't argue with that, so pulled his cowl back on, taking his gloves out too from where they'd been tucked into his belt. Before he put them on, however, Diana lifted his left hand and kissed the ring, then kissed his mouth again. They left the training room together. And when his wife took his hand, leading him through the halls of the Watchtower, Bruce made no move to disengage his fingers from hers.

He almost wished he had, though, at the look that flashed across Bella's face when they entered Diana's quarters still holding hands. Pain of inexpressible magnitude. The neutrality of the Bat closed her expression, of course, but Bruce knew the difference between it being easy and it being like climbing Everest without oxygen.

"Well?" Batwoman asked.

"I lied to you," Diana said quietly. "When I said I couldn't help you. I twisted the truth."

"Untwist it."

The deep breath Diana took wasn't for appearance, Batman noted. It was because what she was about to tell, the tale she was about to weave was an epic that couldn't be told in a single breath, couldn't be told objectively, and couldn't be told without its listeners feeling slivers of fear burrow under their skins like splinters with every word.

"There's a creature that lives in the space between worlds. It doesn't have a name, and if It ever did then it's been long forgotten. But It's a monster of such power and such evil that if can consume whole worlds in a single gulp. And I'm not talking about planets — I mean universes. It swoops down and darkness follows them."

"So why hasn't it?" Batman asked. "Why is our world still here?"

"Because the titans trapped it. They were the ancestors of the gods. The descendents of Uranus and Gaia became the titans — Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Cirus, Iapetus were the sons. Mmemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Rhea and Themis were their daughters. Together the titans had enough power to trap the creature in a prison. The Void, my people call it, but the ancient Babylonians called it the Howling."

"The space between worlds," Bella quoted.

"Yes. If 'place' is really the right term. Nothing exists there — not matter, not time, not light. Not anything," Diana explained.

"So if they trapped it there, what's happened now?"

"The prison was only ever meant to be temporary. This thing is too strong to be caged forever. It was never going to be eternal. That is why the Amazons were granted immortality, or one of the reasons. It's why there must always be a champion. It's why I have to save the world. Why Damien had to go and save his."

"That doesn't explain why you couldn't tell me," Batman said.

Diana smiled sadly. "I didn't tell you — Damien didn't tell _you_, Bella — because neither of you can comprehend how massive this is. If we fail, this creature is angered, that's it; on a whim it's not just your lives. It's not just your children. It's everyone's children. It's all the suns in the universe, it's every planet, every moon in the sky. It's every dog and cat. It's every sky and every ocean. _Now _do you understand? That's why I didn't tell you," she said, speaking solely to her husband now. "Because although I loved you too much, it's bigger than you and I. It's bigger than just my family. But you can't see that. For you there is nothing bigger than your family."

"There's Gotham," they said at the same time.

"But Gotham is as much you as anything else. It's your mother and your child."

"Isn't it your home too?" Bruce asked.

"No," she said honestly. "You are my home. Bella is my home. We could live anywhere and it wouldn't matter. I don't think you'd survive without Gotham."

"Alright," Batwoman said loudly. "Forget Gotham and the world for now. If the titans could only temporarily trap this thing, what can you and Damien hope to do?"

"I don't know. But I was told nine months ago that the time was almost here. That one year from that day I would have to leave my family and go to fight It. Rendezvous with the others."

"The others?"

"The other champions. There can't only be two of us. It's breaking out. Bella, am I right in thinking that crossing over to our world this time was far easier than it was last time?"

"Yes. It was just a case of stepping through this time."

"It's because the walls between the realties are becoming more fragile. It won't be long now before they begin to bleed into one another. We have to stop that happening."

There was a long silence after that before Bella spoke again. "'Outside of time'," she said. "What does that mean?"

"It means that while it's been only weeks since his disappearance for you…" Diana swallowed, her eyes scanning Bella's sadly, "it could be months for him. Years, maybe. Time simply doesn't exist."

"And he's immortal," Bella whispered. "He wouldn't age, he wouldn't change, no matter how long it's been. Centuries might have passed."

"Even if they have, he'll still be the same," Diana said quickly, "he'll still be Damien, Bella."

She nodded. "I've no doubt of that. But centuries? Who's not to say millennia? Who's to say he even remembers he has a family?" She got up, headed toward the door.

"Bella-"

Bruce took her wrist, stopping her going after Batwoman. "Let her go. It won't help."

She turned back to him. "But she's worrying needlessly-"

"Is she?" he asked sharply. "You said it yourself, Diana, as long as Damien's fighting this thing, he exists outside of time. Why not thousands of years? And if that's the case-"

"If that's the case," Diana interrupted fiercely, "then it would make no difference to him. He's immortal, as am I. Do you truly believe I could _ever _forget you? Or Bella?"

"No," he replied, "not the fact that we once existed. But do you really think that after three thousand years, five thousand, you'd remember our faces as clearly as you know them now? Or what Bells' hair smells like when she's just had a bath? It's not hard to keep history books, Princess."

"I would," she spat. "I'll carry those things with me forever, and if you don't know that then-"

"It doesn't matter if you don't, Diana. If you can't," he said softly. "You love us now. You'll love us both all our lives — all of forever for Bella maybe." He took her face between his hands gently, smoothing his thumbs over her cheekbones. "You can't help that. You are what you are. I love you."

"I know," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. "I love you too."

He kissed her, and she clung to his shoulders, returning the kiss fiercely. He stopped thinking when Diana let out a noise between a sob and a moan, pulling herself closer. He kissed back fiercely, his hands going to her hair, fingers running through it just because he could now. Because she was here and in his arms and she smelled just as she always had: of jasmine and amber. Her hands curled around his shoulders as she pulled him backward to the bed, pulled his weight to lie on top of hers. Two sets of armour hit the floor; Bruce pulled back from her mouth to look at her eyes. They still swam with tears, but were totally open. Every emotion she felt was written right there. Bruce didn't need to read it. She was so soft and light that the doubt lingered — at any moment she could dissipate just as she always did in his dreams, drift away like so much cloud. But every second of this bliss was yelling the truth. That it wasn't false; her naked skin against his was too warm, the buck of her hips into his too greedy, the moan of his name too familiar to not be real. The slow crests of pleasure built until there was lightning spiking through them both — blinding, bright and hard. Stripping everything else away.

The afterglow was like floating on an endlessly peaceful ocean, Diana as his lifeboat. Never again. They would never, ever go through that again. He hugged her tightly, stroking down her hair. "I love you."

She kissed him, wetting his skin with her tears. "I love you. So much. I'm so sorry, Bruce."

"No. You have one more apology to make, Princess, and it isn't to me, it's to our daughter. You need never apologise to me again."

She nodded, then shivered. "Thank you for stopping me. I kept telling myself that I couldn't go through with it, but…as soon as I saw Bella I knew I would, because Damien has. Will she ever forgive him?"

"I don't know," Bruce said honestly. "Damien chose that. He chose to take that risk — and don't say you would have too, I don't need to hear that. You didn't, that's the important thing. He did."

But that didn't matter, not to them, not now. For now all that mattered was that _she _hadn't, that they no longer had oceans to cross. It was over. They were together and home. For now, Bruce wouldn't let himself care about their mirror images. He was being selfish. He had his love in his arms, and he'd never let her go again.

* * *

There were few things Bella hated more than crying. When she'd been pregnant, she'd lost her battles with the hormones a few times — the reunion of the League for instance — but after each time, she hadn't felt better. She'd felt angry. It wasn't cathartic, it wasn't copacetic. It was just bitter. It was weakening and foolish. Crying helped accomplish nothing.

She'd cried more in the last year than she had in the thirty five years before it. It normally started in her sleep; in her nightmares of her parents and Damien. She'd wake sobbing, and then be unable to stop until there was no moisture left in her eyes.

She teleported into the Batcave swearing she wouldn't cry now. She wouldn't. There was nothing to cry about. Damien was gone, but he was gone because he was saving every single universe and hadn't wanted to put them in danger. He hadn't trusted her enough to let her make that decision. He'd decided that forgetting the face of his son and the voice of his wife was worth it.

The fizzle and crack that suddenly filled the Batcave made her stand up sharply and spin to face the newly-forming portal. The person that stepped through it was both familiar and totally unwelcome.

"What the _hell _are you doing here?" she snarled.

* * *

**A/N: Review please!**


	6. Uninvited Guests

**A/N: Sorry for the super-long wait!**

**Chapter Five - Uninvited Guests**

Superwoman was not at all fazed by her glare or her tone, and only smiled cheerfully at her. "Hello to you too, Bella."

Batwoman stood and stalked toward her. "Answer the question — what the_ hell _are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help my best friend find my other best friend, whether the stubborn bitch accepts it or not," Clara said, folding her arms.

Shocked as much as anything by the fact that Clara was _swearing_, Bella fell silent. Superwoman took the opportunity to move closer and look around the Cave. "Huh. It looks exactly the same," she murmured, before approaching the computer. "So do you have any leads on Damien yet?"

Bella's glare intensified a little more. Since the divorce she'd basically shut herself off from not only the League but everything else as well. It was publicly known that she hadn't wanted the divorce, and heartbreak was doing its job well. Even though the vultures of the press would still wanted her to spill her guts and blood, no one questioned Bella Wayne's disappearance from Gotham society. Batwoman had moved from a part-time to a pretty much non-member status. She still paid for it, but that was about it. She and Clara hadn't spoken in weeks.

"The League doesn't have Wonder Warrior or Batwoman — it _cannot _afford to lose Superwoman as well, so get your alien ass back through that portal _now, _Kent!"

"Oh, please, Bella, I'm not leaving forever, and Superboy is there, he has all my powers, the League will be fine. My'ri'ah will contact us if we're really needed. So any other threats or reasons you'd like to come up with, get them out of the way now and then we'll get back to finding Damien."

The two women stared at one another for several moments in increasingly hostile silence. It was the first time in their friendship that Bella looked away first. Clara sighed and let the tension ease from her shoulders. "You've been crying," she noted softly.

"Diana's been very helpful — apparently there's an entity that lives in the space between worlds," Batwoman explained flatly. "It's so old that It doesn't have a name, and the only thing the gods know is that the titans — the ancestors of the gods themselves — were able to trap It in the current prison."

"Bella..."

"But it was only ever a temporary measure. Eventually It would break out and begin destroying whole universes at a time. The Amazons are taking it down — the champions of every Themyscira have rendezvoused on Olympus. Apparently there are only one set of gods. From there they set out trying to find a way to kill this thing once and for all."

"Bella-"

"Oh, and time doesn't exist in the void so there's every chance that for Damien he's been gone three thousand years. That's everything you've missed. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go pick up my son from school."

She marched past Clara — or attempted to anyway, since a hand descended onto her shoulder and stopped her. Her fists curled and steel spread through every muscle in her body. "You have three seconds to let go."

"You're not okay, Bella, you need to-"

Batwoman grabbed Superwoman's forearm and moved before the Kryptonian could react, throwing her over her shoulder. The Cave floor shook as Clara slammed into it — Bella just stepped over her and marched up the stairs. "I warned you."

By the time she pulled up outside the school gates, all traces of tears were wiped from her face; she was dressed in a red sweater and a black pencil skirt, knee-high black boots on her feet. She'd borrowed the clothes from Diana's closet, and as a result they were a little loose. Diana was larger in the bust than she was. Lot larger. Still, they were comfortable enough, and the boots, at least, were a perfect fit. Quick touch of lipstick and a brush through her hair with her fingers, and she looked more like herself. More like her public self, anyway.

The school bell rang, and a seconds later a horde of children poured from the gates. Bella spotted her son and her namesake among the first, and waved. Bruce grinned his father's smile on seeing her, and ran in for a hug. She hugged him back fiercely, but typically it wasn't long before he started squirming away with a "_Mom_, you're _embarrassing _me…"

She grinned and hugged little Bella too. "Sorry. Come on, you two — what say we get milkshakes on the way home, huh?"

That proposal was greeted with much enthusiasm from both children as they entered the school parking lot. When she led them toward the dark red Land Rover Freelander she'd driven here in, Bella stopped and gasped. "Yay! Daddy _never _comes to pick me up in this!"

"Why not?"

"He says it's bad for the environment. Y'know, global warming and all that stuff…"

Bruce frowned. "Global warming? What's that?"

Bella looked up at her 'aunt', who honestly had no idea what she was talking about either. The little girl's expression was shocked. "But…all grown-ups know what it is."

Adult Bella thought hard. The term did stir something in her memory; a dissertation she'd read once, a very long time ago, on climate change. It was hypothetical in their world of course — since the 1970s and the advent of hydrogen fuel cells on a real and commercial level, no one had ever bothered with the oil and gas left underground. Apparently this world hadn't done that.

The little girl confirmed it. "Yeah, it's 'cause burning the oil and stuff makes a lot of…heat, I guess. Oooh, that, and cow farts!"

Bruce burst into laughter at that, and shaking her head, Bella unlocked the car. The cow-farts took them as far as the diner to get the milkshakes before the children stopped giggling, and then blowing bubbles in said milkshakes — something Bruce was never normally allowed to do at home, but his mother was in a indulgent mood — got them as far as Wayne Manor. As they pulled into the garage, she wondered vaguely if Clara had introduced herself to Alfred yet. She didn't much care.

Apparently she had, since as soon as the children had run into the house to show Alfred their posters made that day, Bruce's cry of "Aunt Clara!" could be heard clearly.

She sighed and delayed a little bit before going inside. They were all in the living room, cups of coffee on the table, Alfred with one poster spread on his lap — Bella explaining her artistic vision to him — and Clara with the other. Bruce was just asking her if any of the shapes were vaguely recognisable as real objects. Bella took one cup of coffee without speaking and headed upstairs. She only got as far as the hallway when she dropped the cup. It smashed to pieces on the marble floor with a loud tinkling sound.

There was a sabre-tooth tiger in the entrance hall. It could hardly fail to notice her, or the coffee cup smashing. "Bella?"

"Keep the children inside!" she ordered urgently.

The huge cat growled loudly and began circling; Bella moved in tandem. She heard a rush of air, and then Clara was at her side. "What is _that_?"

"It's a tiger."

"How did it-"

There wasn't even a split-second pause — one moment it was in one place, the next it was mid-air, claws outstretched and massive tusks pointing toward Bella. There wasn't time to do anything except prepare to have three tons of prehistoric tiger slam into her.

Then it didn't.

It sailed straight through her.

Apparently as surprised as she was, the tiger let out a loud yowl but landed lightly on its paws and came around for another leap. This time, it was Clara's laser vision that stopped it. And made it disappear. Two round holes were burned through the front door - the laser beams had gone right through the tiger. The hallway echoed for a moment with the sound of the tiger's roars, and then they faded too.

"What the _Hades _was that?"

The two women looked up at the staircase; Bruce and Diana stood there hand in hand, expressions of shock on both their faces.

Before they could answer, little Bella's voice sounded from behind the living room door. "Can we come out now?"

Diana ran down the stairs and opened the door with an expression of heartfelt yearning on her face. She opened the door and pulled her daughter up into a tight hug. Bella looked stunned for a few seconds, but then hugged her mother back as hard as she could.

"Mommy, why are you crying? We weren't scared, Alfred protected us!"

"I know, my little sun and stars, I know. I just- I missed you today, that's all."

Bella sighed contentedly. "I missed you too, Mommy. Hey, wanna see what I made in art class today?"

"I would _love_ to."

Diana went inside the living room with her daughter while Bruce spoke to adult Bella. He didn't seem at all surprised to see Superwoman standing in his hallway. "The walls getting thinner?"

"Has to be," Bella nodded. "It's getting worse. It wasn't solid, at least, but the walls of the realities are…phasing."

"We have to find Damien quickly."

"That's why I'm here," Clara nodded. "To help speed up the search. Also, uh, sorry about your door."

Bruce frowned at the holes in the oak, while Bella found herself glad that it wasn't _her _doors Clara had done that too. Those eyes would not have stayed red for long. Or in Clara's head… Suddenly, the image of Superwoman's eyes glowing red was replaced by another pair of eyes — these ones orange, reptilian pupil narrow and slitted. They were full of hatred — and a sibilant, sinister hissing noise seemed to come from all around her.

The vision only lasted a few moments, but it was enough for Bella to feel terrible paralysis spread throughout her entire body. She felt like she was made of stone. When the feeling faded, a realisation was pulsing in her mind.

_Keep your fucking eyes closed! _

"Medusa."

* * *

**A/N: Review please!**


	7. Chapter Six

**A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long to update this! Novel kinda swallowed everything else, but the first draft is finished now so expect quite a few updates heading your way now :) **

**If you'd like more info about my novel and updates etc then please find links to Twitter, Facebook and my website on my profile page - it would be brilliant if you wanted to Like or Follow me, or even just check out the blog occasionally :) **

**Thanks for the reviews for last chapter! Here's the next - oh, and I've..._tweaked _Greek mythology. Forgive me for that ;) **

**Chapter Six**

"We need to find them," Diana said immediately. "Medusa is a foe not to be underestimated in any reality — if what you've seen in your visions and dreams is true, Bella, then who knows how many they may be facing now."

The nine of them were gathered in the conference room in the Watchower, Diana explaining everything she had so far kept from the others, and Bella having already elaborated on what she had 'seen'.

"Who killed Medusa in _this _world?" Shayera asked.

"Perseus. Son of Zeus. He used Medusa's head to stop the sea-serpent Cetus, which was attacking Greece at the time."

"Could that be why they need the head of Medusa now?" Superman asked. "Because they need it to stop this thing which is closing down the realities?"

"Presumably so," the princess nodded. "I was never given the full picture — only told that I had a year to separate myself from my family. It…was likely to be a suicide mission. The gods never kept that from me, and I accepted it as my duty, to my people and to my daughter. If-" she stopped and cleared her throat, "If my family knew the truth, they would come after me. If they hated me, they wouldn't. They'd remain safe. My friends likewise," she added apologetically.

"It was still a stupid plan," Shayera said bluntly.

Diana acknowledge that with a nod. "In any case, we need to find the others, and help them kill Medusa. Then we can get Damien safely back home."

"Where is Medusa?" Batwoman asked.

"I don't know."

"Another thing you didn't think to ask about?" she said witheringly.

"Another thing I had more _faith _than to ask about," Diana replied, eyes glinting dangerously.

Bruce interrupted before Bella could reply. There was no point in allowing her to demand of Diana all the answers she'd been denied from Damien; she would not be satisfied with them. "What were you going to do, once the year was up?"

"Go to Themyscira and wait for the goddesses to contact me, either to tell me where to go or take me directly there."

Clara stood. "Then we go there. Take it it's in the same place as our Themyscira?"

"It should be, yes."

"Off we go then," Superwoman said, heading toward the door.

"Wait," Batwoman said, "we can't all go."

"The children," Diana said, nodding, "someone needs to look after the children."

"It's not the children I'm worried about," Bella replied, waving her hand dismissively, "they're safer with Alfred than they could be with anyone else except maybe these two." She pointed at the Kryptonians. "I was worrying about everyone _else _on that planet."

"Okay, so who goes and who stays?"

"Obviously Diana goes."

_And she's not going anywhere without me_, Bruce thought.

It was inconceivable that Bella would stay behind as well, and since Clara had come with the specific task of helping her find Damien, at least one of the Superpeople would be going too. "Superwoman, myself, Batwoman, Diana and J'onn."

"Am I missing something?" Shayera asked. "It's no longer just the seven of us. This is _why _we expanded the League, so that if the Founders had to disappear somewhere, Earth would still be safe. The others are more than capable of looking after any crises that might arise."

That couldn't be denied, yet so far the rest of the League had not been left alone to cope without at least two of the Founders there to back them up if needed. And now they all seemed highly reluctant to actually do it. Finally Batwoman nodded. "Hawkgirl is right. We can all go, unless there are any objections."

"So you don't think we should leave _any _of us here?" Flash asked.

"If you want to stay to supervise the others that's fine," Batman said, standing.

Wally blinked. "You'd trust me to do that? Wow, thanks Bats! I mean I don't wanna, but thanks."

"I'm going to the hanger. Don't care who comes with me," Bella said, out of the door before anyone else but Bruce could get out of their seats.

To Bruce's consternation, Batwoman had already taken off in the Batwing before he got to the hanger. It was PIN and fingerprint locked, of course, but when the hijacker may as well be his genetically identical twin sister that didn't really matter. He went with Diana in her jet, though unfortunately they were not fast enough to catch his engines.

"See if you can raise them," Diana told him, "if they land on Themyscira without you their reception won't be friendly."

"They're both female."

"And both strangers. All of the Amazons will be on high alert, as they have been for the last six months. They'll approach anyone unfamiliar with suspicion."

"At best."

"Exactly."

He took the communications array, keying in the frequency for the Batwing. "Batwoman, pick up."

There was a crackle, then silence.

"Now."

Another crackle, then a female voice on the other end — Clara though, sounding a little apologetic. "_Let me guess: you want us to slow down?_"

"Yes. You need to let us land first. Diana's adamant."

Bella's voice this time. "_Diana can go-_"

"_Bella!_" Superwoman cleared her throat and then continued. "_I've been trying to tell her that. Unfortunately she's gotten used to not listening to me._"

"She needs to. The Amazons will likely attack any strange craft — and people. That won't get her to Damien any faster."

There was a silence, and then the black shape of the Batwing, which had been a distant speck, suddenly loomed large. Bella had hit the brakes, and Diana soared past her easily. Even if she was then tailgated all the way to Themyscira. The others, coming in a Javelin, easily kept pace.

Diana felt her heart sing as Themyscira came into view. She had felt for so long as though she had been struggling against her very nature — lie after lie, all in order to confront a hidden foe that lurked in shadow and was more than half-myth. She liked to know her enemy, to have everything out in the open and fight in the sunlight. Aware of her husband sat to behind and to the right of her, Diana wondered how she ever could have thought that she could do this alone. What did she know about fighting in darkness? What did she know about hunting one's enemy in stealth so she could fight it?

She had imagined that her next homecoming would be a grief-ridden occasion; she would have abandoned her family, she would have broken Bruce's heart and made her daughter hate her forever. Now though, her daughter was safe, and knew she was loved, and Bruce was literally at her back.

The princess squeezed her eyes shut as the jet settled onto golden sand. _Praise the gods. They have shown me a better path. _

Bruce's gloved hand descended onto her shoulder. "Ready?"

She turned to him with a smile. "I am now."

There was a contingent of Amazons on the beach as they disembarked, all with weapons unsheathed and gleaming in the hot afternoon sun. Diana led the party down, aware that they were all going cautiously, and also aware that it had been a long time since they had needed to feel guarded around her sisters.

She nodded toward the captain. "Philipus."

"Princess. We were expecting you, but not for another few months."

"And not expecting the others at all," Apollina, standing just behind Philipus, and looking angry.

"I realise that," Diana allowed, "yet the circumstances have changed. The gods will forgive me from deviating from their plan. For now we must see my mother."

Philipus nodded. "Of course. We will take you to the Queen immediately."

Shayera caught up to Diana as they walked, fastening her mace back to her belt. "Are we sure the gods will forgive you? From what you said they were pretty specific."

"They were," Diana said, "but it cannot be denied that having allies such as you can only help. We have not one but two Kryptonians, we also have _two_ Dark Knights, and all the founders of the Justice League. This may be tempting the Fates, but frankly, how could we lose?"

Shayera grinned. "I like your thinking, Diana."

"The gods want us to succeed. I have with me our best chance of succeeding."

Once the palace came into view, Diana found herself breaking into a run. She knew that her decision to break with her family had bruised Hippolyta's heart, too — she had only one granddaughter, after all. She had to tell her mother that everything would be alright now.

The Queen was out of her throne when she entered, looking over some papers one of her aides had brought for her inspection. They both looked up as Diana entered. "Diana!" Dropping the papers, Hippolyta rushed forward to take her daughter in her arms. "My sun and stars!" She kissed Diana's face and leaned back. "How are you? Is everything…resolved?"

She nodded. "Yes." The footsteps over the others sounded from behind her, and Hippolyta stilled and stared at the doorway. "Only not in the way we had expected."

Hippolyta let go of her daughter. "I think we have some talking to do."

Two hours later, after Bella had explained everything from her world, and Diana had explained everything from theirs, the Queen was satisfied. She put down her goblet and leaned back in her seat. "So you have come to do your duty all the same."

"Yes."

"Yet without alienating your family."

"Yes."

"And with your strongest allies at your side."

"Yes," Diana said for the third time, feeling a little nervous even if she did not let it show.

Hippolyta smiled. "Well, Athena will be with you, Diana, even if the other gods may deplore your not following their orders directly."

"Speaking of," Batwoman said abruptly, "where is the temple of Athena?"

"Just across the square. The temple of Hera is opposite the palace; Athena's in on the left, next to it. I will take you."

"Good. Let's go."

Blinking at being ordered around in her own palace, Hippolyta nevertheless got up and readjusted her robes. It was the first time Diana had ever seen her check her own reaction in order to soothe someone else's fraught emotions. "This way."

The temple of Athena was light-filled, a shaft of sunlight hitting the silver owl which perched on the goddess' arm, wide eyes watching them all intently, seeing and knowing everything. Diana and Hippolyta bowed to the statue, and then dropped to their knees with the others watching, some impassively, some angrily. The anger mainly belonged to Bruce and Bella — Bella knew her husband had done this already, prostrated himself like this, and now Diana was doing it too. For what? To whom? The idea that the gods could not _possibly _be gods had never faded. They were supernatural beings, yes, but there was no such thing as God, or gods plural. And as such, their motives must always be suspect.

After several minutes of quiet praying, a low hum started from nowhere, building in volume and intensity until the marble floor shook and the air vibrated visibly. There was a flare of light, similar to a flash grenade, and in the next second, Athena stood before them all, looking every bit as haughty and impressive as her hundred-foot counterpart. The flash had meant that everyone else had missed her entrance, but the lenses in Batman's cowl shielded his eyes from it. When the goddess of wisdom appeared, she had done so in a kind of beam, not at all dissimilar from a teleport.

"Rise, my children."

Both Amazons did so. "Lady Athena. Thank you for heeding us."

"You have not followed our guidance, Diana," Athena said. "We told you that your family would attempt to follow you, that it would be better for everyone if you split from them."

"I know, Lady Athena. But a few days ago, someone arrived in our world who changed that. This is-"

"Bella Wayne, also known as Batwoman, the counterpart of your husband. We know."

"Then you also know why I'm here," Bella replied.

"We do."

"Wonder Warrior, as he is in our world, _did _follow your guidance. We are divorced, and neither myself nor our son, nor anyone in the League, knows where he is. Yesterday I had a vision-"

"A vision?" Athena interrupted, frowning. "How can that be? You are mortal."

"Yeah. And?"

"And you should not be experiencing visions without divine intervention."

"I assumed it came from you."

"No, it did not. What did your vision show?"

"Medusa. Damien's fighting Medusa, along with another Amazon champion from another world. We've come with Diana to help, and if necessary, rescue them."

Athena's brow remained furrowed, but she finally nodded. "Very well." She gestured behind her, and a portal just like the one which Bella and Clara had arrived through, opened up. "This will take you to their next destination. The lair of Medusa. I do not have to tell you how much care to take."

They all agreed with that, and after wishing them luck, Athena once again disappeared. They all filed slowly through the portal, Diana wishing her mother a fond — if worried — farewell. Bella was the last one to go through, and just before she did, Hippolyta took her arm.

"When you find him…do not be too hard on him. He will have suffered for leaving you enough already."

Bella took her arm from the Queen's grasp. "He's not your son, Hippolyta. Don't feel you have to defend him."

* * *

**A/N: Review please!**


	8. Snake Hair Girl

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! **

**Chapter Seven—Snake Hair Girl **

They all had their eyes shut as soon as they exited the portal, all except Batman and Batwoman, who had already prepared. One of them had thermal imaging on, the other infrared. Normally they would have had to make a choice, gambling on whether Medusa would be cold-blooded or not — however, with both of them there, they'd silently decided who chose which method of vision.

When the nine of them emerged into the cavern, it was to a dry and very hot atmosphere. "Everyone stop," Bruce ordered. "You need to put blindfolds on."

"I think we all know what we have to do, Bruce," Superman commented, his own eyes tightly shut.

"Until you trip over something and reflex makes you open your eyes," Bella replied from behind him. He jumped, though his eyes didn't open. "Hold still," she instructed, tying it around his head. If she ignored the blue suit, and he didn't speak, and she squinted a _lot_, it was almost like touching Damien's hair. Almost.

"So what's the plan?"

"We need to do at least some recon," Shayera said. "Which means we'll need our eyes open for a little time."

"Agreed."

"I volunteer," Diana said instantly.

She saw Bruce glance at her, but he didn't argue. Shayera volunteered as well, and the two of them took off, heading north at an altitude of three hundred feet. Even at that height the cavern roof still loomed high above them. The ground beneath was arid, no vegetation, no features at all except an odd kind of tree. No, not a tree, Diana realised almost instantly. There were a forest of figures, true, but they were all stone. And all had once been people. They were mostly warriors, armed with spears, swords, even guns from what she could see. They none of them had got anywhere near Medusa.

"So things are … fine now, right?" Shayera asked, green eyes scanning the ground.

Diana glanced at her. "I'm not going to follow Damien's example, if that's what you're asking."

"Good. Because that would've been stupid." When Diana frowned, Shayera did nothing but glare back, daring her to tell her she was wrong. "You don't think so? Leaving your husband, abandoning your daughter — that would have been the _right _thing to do, would it, Princess?"

"No. Of course it wouldn't. But I honestly did not see another way. If not for Bella I probably would have done it."

"You could have told me. You should have. Even if I couldn't talk you out of it I'd still have knocked you out so that you couldn't _do_ it."

"I'm sorry."

The knowledge that she would be apologising a lot, to far more people than simply Bruce and her little girl, was heavy. And something that she was only just realising. But it was real, and true, and she deserved to feel every ounce of it. But equally, she deserved to feel every ounce of her relief, too. Because she hadn't done it. She had broken no one's heart.

* * *

"So Medusa's the snake-hair girl, right?" Flash asked.

"That's the one."

"And so ugly that people turn to stone looking at her."

"She was cursed to be that ugly so that men would never desire her," Clara said.

"Cursed? By who?"

"Athena."

"Oh. So she was bad before she was ugly?"

"She was a priestess of Athena," Batwoman said.

"Huh? How does that work?"

Batwoman gave a sharp sigh of impatience and said nothing else, leaving it to Superwoman to finish the tale. "Medusa was a maiden living in ancient Greece, a priestess of Athena and so beautiful that the sea god-"

"Poseidon!" Flash put in, apparently eager to prove he knew things.

"Poseidon, yes," Clara continued, "desired her. She refused his advances, having pledged her virginity to Athena. But he was so consumed with lust that he forced himself on her. Terrified, Medusa ran to the temple of Athena for protection."

"And Athena granted that protection. Right?"

"No," Bella said flatly. "She let him rape her. On the altar. And then, because Medusa's beauty had been the cause of his lust, she made it so that no man would ever want her again."

A shocked silence followed in the wake of this announcement. Then Flash spoke again. "Oh … my God."

Bella bent to take a rock sample, then stood to analyse it. "Precisely."

"How could she do that? It wasn't Medusa's fault that Poseidon wanted her! And to _rape _her! How can-"

"And it's worse than that," Clara said. "Think about it. That story might have been true for our world, for yours, but odds are it wasn't true for all of the Medusas. Athena must have cursed them all for the same sin."

"Jeez! And we're here on her orders? I think I quit!"

"We're here now. You can't," John said bluntly.

"From what I understand," J'onn mused, "many of Diana's gods bear the same lack of humanity. They are known for their petty and vindictive natures, are they not?"

"In mythology, yes. But Diana tells a different story."

"Well she would know, I guess," Flash said. He didn't sound convinced though.

* * *

They were about ten minutes out from the others when the first roar sounded. It had been growing steadily hotter, and beneath them were chasms and rivers of fire; it reminded Diana of the Underworld. There had been no sound though, until now. It was loud, angry, and "suitably reptilian", as Shayera put it. Diana nodded, and they banked silently in the direction of the sound. They went slowly, ready to close their eyes at the first sign of movement. It was followed by other noises—ringing, clashing metal, more cries from the monster and shouts from people. A battle, unmistakably. When Diana caught the first flash of silver from a sword, she stopped. Without blindfolds they could go no further.

Shayera put her hand to her com-link. "We've found something. Two clicks southwest of your position."

"_Can you see anything_?" Batwoman's voice asked.

"Nothing in detail," Diana replied. "It's pretty clear there's some kind of fight going on though."

She wanted to go and pitch in, but Bella caught her instincts, and quashed them. "_Wait for us. You'll be killed if Medusa sees you._"

"Affirmative," the princess returned. "Wonder Woman out.'

They didn't have to wait long; Flash was on the ground under them almost before she had terminated the connection, followed closely by Clark, carrying Batwoman. She jumped out of his arms as quickly as she could, once the ground was within safe jumping distance.

"Warn me next time," she growled.

Clark raised an eyebrow, but apparently decided to treat her much as he would Bruce, and ignored the acidic comment. He and Diana shared a little smile as Batwoman turned away. Batman arrived soon after, dangling from Superwoman's hands. J'onn and GL brought up the rear.

"What have we got?" GL asked.

Shayera pointed. "Medusa, possibly Amazons, that way."

Bruce handed Shayera a blindfold, and stepped forward to put Diana's on himself. She let him, enjoying the cherished proximity as he covered her eyes gently. She didn't miss the way his gloved fingers ran tenderly through her hair, either.

Now that everyone except the two Bats were blindfold, they moved off again. There was little speed lost even without sight; J'onn could see through Bruce, telepathically; neither Kryptonian _needed _their vision all that much, as their other enhanced senses compensated; Shayera, too, had a naturally excellent olfactory centre, gifted to all of her species. Diana herself possessed the gifts of the goddess Artemis, and John stuck close enough to Shayera so that a feathered wingtip was never far out of reach. The only real danger was making sure Wally didn't trip himself every two seconds.

Diana's senses were strained, taut as a bowstring. When Perseus had defeated Medusa in her world, Athena had given him a magical shield and helmet—but Perseus had only been a man. A demi-god, admittedly, but no Champion of the Amazons. He had needed armour such as that, but Diana didn't. She had no need of them. Ahead, she knew there were two Amazons grappling with the gorgon. One she knew was Damien, but the other one was unfamiliar to her. A woman.

"Two reds and one moving grey," Bruce announced from beside her.

"I see them," Batwoman replied. "Damien and another Amazon, both armed. Medusa's not exactly unarmed herself though. Spitting fire."

"I don't remember that part of the story …" Flash muttered.

"Split up, encircle them. GL, contain Medusa. Shayera, incapacitate her weapon. Anybody in the air, keep her distracted. Flash, sweep the lady off her feet."

"What will you do?" Diana asked.

Bella answered for both of them. "Deal with those snakes."

It was supposed to go smoothly, except there had been no opportunity to tell the plan to Damien and his companion. Their strategy wasn't all that dissimilar; they were one either side of the gorgon, both armed with sword and shield, striking alternately at Medusa. She was bigger and taller than either of them, though still humanoid. They had managed to wound her—several of these injuries leaking green blood down her sides and abdomen. One of her hands was also actually half-hanging off. It had apparently not slowed her, since she was still bellowing fire at each of them in turn and twisting nimbly to glare. They had less than a second to land any kind of blow—and finally, Damien mistimed one of his. Medusa turned just when his blade was in midair. But just before two orange eyes could meet his, she was confronted by the strangest creature imaginable. A woman. Dressed in black, fiercely glaring and _not_ calcifying. Batwoman had put herself between them.

She pulled out an aerosol can, then sprayed it liberally into Medusa's hair—or what passed for hair. The snakes hissed and recoiled, writhing in pain. Their open mouths and flickering tongues had been Medusa's other weapons, tasting and sensing for danger. What Bella had done was douse them all with very concentrated essence of skunk. Plus a few added extras. It was toxically, apocolyptically smelly. And the snakes could not handle it — they all shut their mouths and tried to escape. Not easy when they were cemented to Medusa's scalp. It would not buy them reprieve for long; she had no defence against the fire, but when Medusa did release it, she was suddenly encased in a bubble of green. The fire could not touch Bella and the smell was contained. But John was immediately in trouble. The flame was eating through its hard-light prison quickly.

"Need some help here!" he called.

The light failed completely, and Diana landed beside her ally, pulling out her lasso. "Keep shielding as long as you can."

There was the sound of the ring again, repeated every ten seconds or so while Diana tried to take her aim at a target she couldn't see. The shield took another blow, this time from Medusa herself.

"J'onn!" Batman called.

Stupidly, Diana chanced a glance. She kept her eyes on the ground, but her peripheral vision told her all she needed to know. J'onn was materializing behind Medusa, then seizing her arms. She frantically tried to turn and look at him; it gave Diana her chance. She looped her lasso and threw it over Medusa's head, then instantly replaced her blindfold. Not half a second too soon—she felt Medusa's gaze rake across her face like claws.

"Now, Shayera!" she cried.

An unfamiliar voice called out. "Not the eyes, we need the-"

The next thing Diana knew, a Thanagarian had been throwing into her. The two of them were sent crashing into a boulder, which did not survive the impact with Diana's body. The blindfold fell askew, but Medusa's attention was elsewhere now. As the Lasso of Truth had been wrenched from her hands, Damien had thrown his. Medusa was still struggling within its coils, even while they glowed golden. Resistance might be futile—but it was taking a long time to be erased completely. Medusa had her good arm free, and when the redheaded Amazon charged towards her, eyes closed, she grabbed her sword arm and twisted it away. The redhead let go of her blade with an agonised cry, and Damien ran to help her while Flash was running full-tilt for Medusa but she was about to rip his mask away-

It was Clara's vision that ended it; while Medusa was engaged, she landed behind her, and twin laser beams sliced through the gorgon's neck. The body collapsed with a weary sigh, and the head rolled three feet or so to stop at Diana's toes. Looking at the ground, she brushed the eyes shut.

"It's over," she called. "It's safe."

There was a moment of silence as Damien and the other Amazon opened their eyes; everyone else removed whatever blindfold they had, apart from the two Caped Crusaders, who had no need. Diana expected Damien to look to Bella first, if not to fly to her and embrace her, but he did not. After his blue eyes had swept around the group, they returned to hers.

He stepped forward, offering his arm. "Thank you—and welcome, sister. I am Damien."

Stupefied, the princess took his arm. "Diana. I am sorry, but … do you not know me?"

A confused frown crossed Damien's face. "Should I? You look slightly familiar, I admit, but we are all variations on a theme, are we not?"

"We've met before," she said, unable to understand the humour in his expression. "Some years ago now, but … Unless … How long has it been for you?"

* * *

**A/N: Review please! **


	9. Compartmentalisation

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! **

**Chapter Eight — Compartmentalisation  
**

The other Amazon stepped forward. "I am Artemis. But we should discuss this somewhere else. The worlds aren't always safe even after Medusa is dead. Come." She bent to pick up the head by its snake-hair, pointed it towards an empty patch of space, and opened the eyes briefly.

There was a wrenching, wailing noise, and a portal was rent open. One by one, they all stepped inside and into a swirling, chaotic maelstrom that tore and buffeted at them all. After the smooth transition here, it was a shock to the system, and Diana lost her footing as soon as they landed. Where they had landed, though … It was a floating island, a lump of rock handing in utterly empty space. There were no stars, no moon, nothing to provide any illumination or explain where the cold grey light was coming from.

"The Void?" Batwoman asked.

Artemis nodded shortly.

No wonder it had been called the Howling; an anonymous, screaming wind ripped through the non-air, racing through Diana's clothes and clawing at her skin. She felt immediately chilled. Thankfully Damien and Artemis were leading the way into a cave that rose up out of a mound in the rock—they followed, finding it far bigger on the inside. It was furnished much as a temple of Hestia would be: a fire burning cheerily in the large hearth, some meat cooking, fresh bread and fruit laying on a well-stocked table, two beds made up at the far end. It gave off a homely and welcoming atmosphere. On two of the walls, though, there were things that did not belong. Hundreds of tiny black scratches, four in a row with one diagonal line across each set. Diana could not tell what they pertained to. There seemed to be at least a couple thousand of them.

"A tally chart," Superman said, coming to stand next to her. "Of what?"

"Medusa heads," Artemis told them. "Those are Damien's. Mine are over there."

Flash looked around as though he expected to see heads in pickling jars. "Where are they all?"

"The gods take them, store them until they are needed."

"You - You have no idea how long you've been here, do you?" Diana asked, aghast at her suspicion but sure it was true. "This is how you measure time."

Artemis shook her head without even the trace of a smile. "There's nothing else. No sunrise, no moon."

"The gods tells us when a century has passed," Damien said.

"And how many centuries_ have _passed for you?" Clara asked, her blue eyes brimming with tears.

"Fifty three." The answer came from Batwoman, not Damien, and she was looking at the wall behind Diana. There were more tally marks on it. "You've been gone over five thousand years. For you."

Damien was now staring between she and Clara — or rather, the symbols on their respective chests. Comprehension looked like it was dawning. Diana unconsciously drew closer to her husband, even thought of suggesting they all leave for this reunion … but Artemis got there first.

"And who are _you_?" she demanded, tone and body language equally suspicious. "You, clearly, are the only Amazon here," she added to Diana, "which makes the rest of you impostors."

"We're here to help," Bruce said evenly.

"Your help was not required. The gods have stipulated-"

"Athena sent us here herself; I'd suggest you take it up with her if you have a problem," Shayera stated.

Artemis visibly bristled. "And why should we-"

"Artemis …" Damien said, without looking away from his extinguished memories, now made flesh.

"-believe any of this? Never has the goddess sent so many strangers-"

"Artemis, I don't think they're strangers."

"You better listen to him," Flash said. "By the way, any food around? I'm starving."

John elbowed him in the side. "Shut. Up."

Artemis had ceased her accusations, and was now at Damien's side, her fingers meeting his as she took his hand. She glanced swiftly at both Clara and Bella. Bella's expression did not alter — Clara, somewhat less skilled at hiding her thoughts, frowned. "Damien?" Artemis asked quietly.

"I do, don't I?" Damien asked the room in general. "I know you. Both of you."

Bella nodded shortly; Clara said, "Of _course _you do!" as though he were being stubbornly forgetful; Diana's heart was in her mouth. She could only imagine how Bella must be feeling.

"K-Kel. Kel-Al," Damien stammered, looking at Clara.

"Yes. Yes, that's right," she confirmed, though she made no move to hug him. Damien did that, a smile of purest joy on his handsome face.

"I didn't dare to hope you might still be alive! Five thousand years, I didn't know how far the yellow sun would take you. But you- you look no older. And you, too, seem familiar," he suddenly said, turning to Bella.

"'Familiar'?" she repeated softly, breathlessly. Like she'd just had her lungs pierced.

Yet the tone was lost on Damien: he was too caught up in his own euphoria. "Could you be-? _Can _it be that you are the _original _Batwoman? And that- How long have I been gone, for you? Quickly, tell me!"

He had let go of Clara, and was now gripping Batwoman's arms, utterly oblivious to the Bella that lay beneath the mask. No trace of the Bella showed, though, in her flat-calm answer. "Six weeks. You disappeared six weeks ago."

* * *

The news seemed to stagger Damien, and he paled, stepping backwards from his wife and looking around at all of them with wide eyes. "So I- I know all of you?"

"A bit more than _know_-" Clara started.

_J'onn, don't let her finish that sentence! _Shayera screamed mentally. She was looking at Bella, who was trembling visibly, head to toe while her chest remained still. It was outrage that had made Clara speak, and incredulity — but it would lead to an unspeakably cruel confrontation. Now was not the time.

The Martian acted swiftly, and Clara's mouth shut with an audible click. Thankfully Damien was still too happy to notice really. Shayera did the rest of the introductions, explained briefly who they were, how they knew him. Slowly, with Batman at her side — no one had seen him move — Bella calmed.

"How did you come to be here?" Damien asked, _still _smiling.

Shayera had no doubt that Batwoman would find some way to pull herself together, but while she did, she would help keep the pressure off. "Athena," she said again, despite the explanation given to Artemis a moment ago. "When you went missing we looked for you at Batwoman's instigation, but we were looking in the wrong place. We tried Themyscira once Diana let us in on what was really going on."

For the first time, disquietude and regret flickered across Damien's face, and he looked at Diana. "So … she gave you different instructions than I received."

"No. But circumstances developed that meant I did not need to leave my friends and family behind. Thus, you see us all here," she replied.

There was definite sorrow in Damien's expression now. Sorrow and — shame? So he still knew he _had _a family then, Shayera thought. Apparently, five thousand years was too long a time to remember who they were though. She found herself gratified by his shame. He _should _be ashamed for what he'd done, of how he'd betrayed them. She knew that better than most.

"If the goddess sent you to help us, and if Damien trusts you, then I must be satisfied," Artemis announced. "You are welcome to share everything we have here, meagre as it may be."

"Thank you, sister," Diana acknowledged.

"There were three of you," Batwoman said. All eyes fell on her, but she was back in business mode, and unreadable. No trace of a tear on her exposed cheeks, no sign of emotion at all.

"Our numbers have varied constantly. We've never managed to keep more than ten of us alive at any one point, though," Artemis said.

"But until recently, there were three of you."

"Yes. And now there are three of us again."

"This was a woman named Donna."

"Donna … was killed some twenty Medusas ago," Damnien said sadly. "Did Athena give you her name?"

"No. Was she a telepath?"

"Donna? No. We all of us share the same powers," he said, confused. "Why?"

"Dream. And then a vision. That's how we knew to be prepared for Medusa."

"Your vision, Diana?" Artemis asked.

"No. Batwoman's."

More frowning and staring. "Why would the gods grant a mortal such aid as-"

"Athena denied they had."

Silence at that, while Damien slowly shook his head. "Then I cannot tell you any more."

"It is late for such talk," Artemis said. "I for one am hungry and weary. Let us eat, rest, and then talk."

"An excellent idea."

They set about helping prepare a meal, while J'onn's voice sounded in everyone else's minds. _Bella has requested no one reveal to Damien her identity, or speak about his family. _Tiny nods and gestures of acknowledgement spread around the cave. Two, only, did so reluctantly. Diana was hesitant; she could exactly imagine how badly Damien must wish for news of his family, yet to _not remember _Bella … She nodded. Clara needed a full-beam batglare before she consented, and Shayera had the impression J'onn had linked their minds too. Finally though, Clara looked away.

The rest of that evening, if it could be called that, was spent deep in conversation. Bella seemed to be actively avoiding her husband, instead pumping Artemis for the information they needed. She was leaving Clara to talk, which made sense. According to Damien, Batwoman seemed to be more ally than friend, whereas he knew Superwoman to be more, even if he had not known why. They didn't seem to be having any problems chatting, and Clara was keeping to her promise. All they spoke about were vagaries, details about Clara's life, the League and the world in general. Oddly enough, Damien didn't want information about his own life. Seeing Shayera was watching the conversation, Diana moved to her side.

"I never … in my darkest dreams, I never imagined this."

"You would have remembered them?"

"I would have tried!"

"Who's to say he didn't try?" Shayera said, attempting to be reasonable. She remembered seeing Bella and Damien together, no couple could be more in love. He couldn't have forgotten them on purpose. "Five thousand years is a long time, Diana. And he does recognised what they stand for … it seems like some kind of psychological defence to me. Repression."

"Maybe," the princess admitted. "I suppose that does make sense. The only thing that does."

* * *

Over on the other side of the cave, Bruce, Bella and John were deep in discussion with Artemis. She was annoyingly short on strategies. "You must have a target," Batwoman insisted. "How many Medusas do you need to kill?"

"We do not know; however many the gods require to stop It."

"What do you know about 'It'?" Bruce asked.

"That It is the destroyer of worlds, of universes. That It takes and consumes all that exists. That it is the vital duty of every Champion-"

"Yeah, we got that from Diana," John said impatiently. "What are its weakness? What are the Medusa heads for, how do you plan on using them? If It lives in the Void where is It? Have you ever seen It?"

"Of course not! To see It is to die!"

"Then how could you possibly defeat It?" Batwoman demanded.

Artemis' mouth tightened. "The gods have yet to share their plan."

"You think they _have _a plan? You have no detail, no specifics, no way of effectively forming a plan of attack — you don't have a problem with that?"

"Of course I would prefer to be prepared. Forewarned is forearmed-"

"It doesn't seem as if the gods want you very _armed_," Bella interrupted. "Do you intend to blindly obey forever, stuck in this hellhole? Does Damien?"

The tension was incredibly thick between the two women — Bella's snarl and sneering tone made it plain how stupid she thought relying on the gods was, and Bruce could only agree, but he wasn't battling with Bella's emotional state. It could often be harder than dealing with blood-loss or poisoning. It wasn't helped by Artemis' next remark, either.

"Damien and I make the best of our situation. We have the sure knowledge that we do the right thing, and each other's companionship."

Bruce saw the muscles in Bella's neck spasm once, but when she replied, she had obviously recovered herself. "Having no real clue what you're fighting against isn't a good idea. As a Champion you must be aware of that."

Artemis made no reply, but it seemed as though Bella made her point. The conversation then turned to the practicalities of their mission, which they discussed as a group.

"The gods send us after one Medusa at a time," Damien told them. "Once we've rested and healed."

"Clearly we could take more than one now," Superman said.

Flash did a quick headcount. "Eleven of us. If we work in two-people teams, we could go after five at a time, with one team of three."

"Too dangerous," Batman countered. "Three teams would be fine; any more would be too much of a risk."

"We've coped well with two so far," Artemis frowned.

"Dumb luck," Batwoman said dismissively. "And we don't need to wait for the gods, we can open portals with this." She pulled out the device she'd used to get to Bruce's world, which fit neatly in the palm of her hand. The first time the two Leagues had worked together, he remembered it filling most of a room. Clearly she'd been working hard on minimising the technology. It appeared not to be working too well at the moment though; its display was flashing madly, fixing on one point and then flying away after less than a second. "We're in the space between worlds, so it can fix on anywhere."

"And what good is that to us?" Artemis sneered. Apparently the dislike was mutual. And not aided by the placating hand Damien placed on her arm. "The gods only know which worlds we have been to already, and which we have not."

In answer, Bella got up, walking over to the Medusa head — still on the hearth — took hold a snake head and ripped it out at the roots. Everyone winced. Silently, she handed the snake to Bruce while she took up the machine again. It was a pretty simple process (for them) to incorporate the DNA scanner they both carried everywhere into the portal device; a few screws, some minor wiring, a little code-rewriting and it was done. Meanwhile, Bruce had extracted the snake's forked tongue with the small dissection kit in his belt, and then accepted the larger machine from Bella. It was unfortunate that they were doing this with everyone watching. Part of the mystique of being the Dark Knight was the ability to invent impossible solutions out of thin air, but it couldn't be helped now.

A few moments later, the snake's DNA had been fed in, and the device gave an encouraging whistle. "We'll now be able to search exclusively for worlds containing a Medusa," Batwoman told the group. Or rather, she was looking at the group, but speaking to Artemis, who remained mullishly silent.

"Amazing," Damien said, shaking his head with a smile.

"Simple engineering," Bella said neutrally — although she was smirking.

The two Amazons were weary, so they retired to sleep soon after that. As time dragged on, the others followed. Eventually everyone was asleep. Or almost everyone. When he was sure the others were slumbering, Batman sat up and stood silently, his movements exactly paralleled by Bella. She nodded to their shared thoughts, then her mouth moved into the word 'Kent'. There was no (for him) audible sound, but both Supers opened their eyes instantly. Bella put a finger to her lips and gestured for them to follow she and Bruce out of the cave. A moment later they were at the farthest end of the rock platform.

"What is it?" Clark and Clara asked in unison.

"Something's wrong."

"What?"

"Unsure."

That _was _cause for staring, and both of them did. But neither Bat knew precisely what felt off.

"I can think of at least one thing wrong," Clara began, only to be interrupted by Bella.

"There's no detail, no final plan. No information about what It is, what It wants or how the Medusa heads are supposed to help. It's impossible to get any information out of Artemis without a full interrogation. Does Damien know anything?"

Clark shook his head. "Damien barely knows his own name. We're complete strangers to him; you two are little better. It seems like his entire being has been taken over by this suicide mission."

"Suicide mission …" Bella murmured, her tone pensive.

Bruce caught her train of thought. "Diana called it that too."

"You think there might be something to it?" Clark asked. "The gods are doing it deliberately? Why? What reason could they have for wanting that? Or keeping them in the dark at all?"

"I don't know. But that's what's wrong."

"It's the the only thing wrong though," Clara said, no longer to be deterred. "Bella, he doesn't _know_ you."

When he saw that his counterpart either wouldn't or couldn't answer, Bruce did it for her. "Compartmentalisation. It's been so long that in order to stop himself going mad with grief, he's separated you into your component parts. He remembers you as allies, or at best, friends."

Clara's eyes were suddenly very bright as she looked at Batwoman. "Oh, Bella…" She went to clasp her shoulder, but Bella moved before she could, heading into the cave.

"I'd considered the possibility," was all she said.

* * *

**A/N: Review please!**


	10. Iced Mochas

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Here's chapter 9 - things are moving a little quickly, but there is a lot to get through, I assure you, so please forgive me for that! And a sneaky bonus peek at the next chapter for the person who can spot the movie reference in this chapter!  
**

**Chapter Nine — Iced Mochas  
**

The next morning — or what passed for morning — they decided to split into three teams, as per Bruce's suggestion. One Amazon per team seemed to work best. Bruce went with Damien, Flash and Shayera; Bella with Diana, John and Clark; Clara, Artemis and J'onn made up the final team. One group of them had to do without a way back, banking on the fact that once Medusa was dead, the gods would initiate their return. Unsurprisingly, Artemis had been the one to volunteer her team for relying solely on the gods. Their team had gone off less enthusiastically than the redhead might have liked. Next to go was Diana's team. Before they went, though, she gestured for Bruce to follow her to the back of the cave.

"I think we should go home, after this."

"All of us?" he asked.

"Yes. Damien and Artemis can just as easily go about our mission from Earth, I am sure."

"You think the gods will agree?"

She gestured to the cave around them. "This is meant to echo the warm of Hestia's hearth. I feel certain that the goddess would approve of giving them a _real _home."

"The Watchtower first," Bruce said.

"But-"

"I agree with you, Princess, it would be kinder for them. But there's still Bella and her son to consider. We can't take Damien to Wayne Manor until his memories return."

Diana nodded, shuddering. "I can only imagine the trauma that might cause young Bruce."

"Exactly. And I doubt Bella will be happy about the idea either."

"Bruce, just so you know …" she looked away, then back again. Her blue eyes were very earnest. "I would never — I could never — have forgotten you. Or Bella; the idea that I-"

He silenced her with a kiss, soft but passionate. "Don't think about it. It's their problem."

"You can't be so detached from it," she said. "Bruce, they _are _us, in another form. It hurts just to think about Damien's ignorance. It must do you, too. You can't feel Bella's pain?"

"I can empathise. It's not the same. It makes me angry, yes, but not unreasonably so." A bit of a lie, perhaps. The analytical psychologist in him knew and understood the reasons for Damien's compartmentalisation. The husband, the lover, the fighter — knew it to be cowardice. And he burned with indignation for his almost-sister and -niece. Diana still looked guilty though, and he renewed his previous thought. Damien, Bella and their situation were not his problem. Diana was. "We _are _connected with them. But what they do about this, when Damien gets his mind back, is up to them. We have a mission to complete, and a daughter to get back to."

"I know," Diana nodded. "She's our only priority once this is done. We spend the rest of our lives making her happy, right?"

"Right. And, Princess?"

"Yes?"

He ran a hand through her hair, tucking a raven strand behind her ear. "The cloak of humility doesn't suit you. Don't wear it for too long."

Five minutes later, the remaining Leaguers and assorted allies were setting off to deal with three Medusas. Stepping from the Void into an actual world was incredibly easy — dealing with what waited for them there, considerably less so. They were all blindfold except for Bruce, and it took not much time at all to devise a strategy once they came upon Medusa. She was huge, much taller and much broader than her predecessor had been. Apparently Damien had not forgotten as much unconsciously as he had consciously, as it seemed not to cross his mind that Batman would be the one to kill Medusa, and going over the plan he had only spoken of himself doing it. It was pretty simple; Flash would run around Medusa until she only saw a scarlet blur, then they would blind her, then Damien would cut her head off. What could be easier?

Shayera went first. Her wings were powerful weapons even in their own right; one well-placed blow could kill a man after all, and it was not a tactical advantage Batman intended to waste. Especially since this Medusa seemed to be even more dangerous than the last. Instead of spitting fire, they learned from a quick recon that she had the ability to revert her victims back to flesh. They remained dead, thankfully — because she then ate them. It was a grisly thing to hear, and worse to watch. She was, at the moment, munching on the bones of a middle-aged woman, if his pathology expertise was up to scratch. Which it was. He'd spent too many years around Gotham crime scenes to be disgusted.

"Clear on the plan?"

The three blindfolded people with him nodded. "Where is she?" Shayera asked in a whisper. "From the smell I'm guessing forty feet?"

"Forty two."

"How tall?"

"Seven four."

"Got it."

She took off in a rush of air, and Bruce tracked her flight. She went silently, and Medusa didn't even notice her until she was shaken by the first blast of wind. As Shayera hovered above her, she flapped her wings powerfully. Each wingbeat produced clouds of dust which filled the air and obscured Medusa's vision. It was Wally's cue; he sped forward to encircle the gorgon, whipping the air and dust into a tight funnel. Medusa wouldn't be able to see Damien's blow coming.

However, there had been no way to know, ahead of time, that this Medusa also had another talent. She had snake-hair that squired acid. And while she couldn't turn Shayera to stone, she could douse her with the corrosive fluid. It burned right through her left wing. She would have carried on despite the pain, if it had been a mere wound, but the acid had eaten through tendon and sinew as well as feather. With only one wing to slow her descent, Shayera crashed toward the ground.

Acting on instinct, Flash ran to catch her — which gave Medusa a clear shot at either them or Damien.

Quickly, Batman pulled out a flash grenade. No time to warn the others, but as they were all blindfolded anyway it should not matter. He threw it at her feet as Damien charged toward her, sword bared. The acidic snakes were drawn back, ready to strike — Bruce turned off the infrared and looked away, seeing the immensely bright flare in his periphery, knew it had gone off. There was a cry of pain, then the wet sound of metal meeting flesh, then silence.

"Dead!" Damien called.

Blindfolds came off all round, and Shayera's injury became the priority. She was not badly hurt; they cleansed her wound of the acid and bandaged her wing carefully but she clearly would not be able to fly again for a while. Shayera kept her teeth gritted throughout the process, though bathing the wound produced several colourful expletives. Bruce carefully strapped her wing to her torso and stepped back.

"It'll do for now, but you need medical attention soon."

"Better hope the others have had better luck than we have then," Wally said.

Shayera walked a little gingerly over to the head and picked it up, nodding at Flash's wounds — just a few cuts and scrapes. "We could go help them."

"You're not going anywhere," Bruce told her, "and you shouldn't be alone, either. We don't know what was in that acid."

"I'll go with Shayera," Flash said. "You and Damien can go help Di and the others."

"Get some water and keep bathing Shayera's wound."

"If Diana gets back before we do, she should be able to identify the healing salves to you," Damien said.

It was agreed upon, and using the Medusa head, Flash and Shayera went back to the Void. Damien turned to Bruce. "I suggest we aid Artemis and Kel first. They have a disadvantage in numbers compared to the others."

Before they had gone, Bruce (and Bella) had taken the precaution of obtaining a DNA sample from each of the others, knowing they might have to find them at short notice. Bruce drew one of Artemis' fiery-red hairs from his belt and fed it into the DNA scanner. It beeped helpfully and opened a portal to the other world. The transition was as smooth as it had ever been, simply walking out of one and into another, no more effort than stepping through a doorway. They were met with a battle scene, however. There was not one Medusa: instead there seemed to be dozens, all of them equally angry. She had no legs, only a long green snake tail which she used as a whip. Superwoman was knocking the twenty or so surrounding her back easily, but more kept coming. It was the same story with J'onn and Artemis. Medusa heads were flying around the Amazon; though she was blindfold, her sword was unerring and deadly.

Clara was the first to notice them. "Damien?"

"How can we help?"

It was obvious — as soon as they were out of the portal, Medusas were on them. Soon exploding batarangs, bolos and punches were all being thrown as quickly as possible, and Damien fell into the same pattern as Artemis. It was clear to Batman this Medusa must also derive some of her power from a hydra-like ability. Each time they killed one, more would take her place.

_There was only one to begin with_, J'onn's voice came into his head. _When she was attacked, another materialised. _

_Which one is the original?_

_Impossible to tell. They are all-_

J'onn cut off, and it was clear to see why — one of the Medusas in front of him suddenly started, well, _sneezing _fire. J'onn went non-corporeal just in time, diving through a rock to get cover. Yet none of the other Medusas were doing the same thing, not at the moment. Acting on the only evidence they had, Batman took a risk. "Everyone focus your attacks on the one with fire!"

"I'm a little busy at the moment!" Superwoman called back.

"Do it!"

About thirty-five Medusas were suddenly thrown backwards fifty feet as Clara shucked them off, zooming to J'onn's aid. A moment later, Damien and Bruce joined her. Artemis needed a little more time, and she was bleeding from a cut on her leg when she did get there. The two Amazons set about attacking the original Medusa while Clara and Bruce kept the others off them — defending only and avoiding offensive action. It seemed to be working, slowly. The amount of copy Medusas diminished, proving Batman's theory correct. The duplicates only existed as a defence mechanism, and the original Medusa couldn't hold them if her attention was focused on herself. But even so, Artemis and Damien were struggling. Medusa kept forcing them back, countering their attacks instantly and shutting down every chance they got before it had even fully appeared. As before, the first time Batman had seen them fight together, they were wounding her superficially, but seemed unable to land a killing blow. This would be a long and arduous-

Or not. When Medusa faced Damien, Artemis had taken her blindfold off. Batman himself was too engaged to put it back on physically, but he did yell for her to replace it herself. The use of ancient Greek seemed to surprise her, but it did not make her pause.

* * *

Damien heard Batman's shouted warning, but could not understand who he might be speaking to. Who would be so foolish, or so confident, as to remove- Suddenly he knew with chilling certainty.

"Artemis! No!"

He was too far away to stop her though, and distracted by his foe. Knowing she needed clear line of sight, if only for a moment, the redhead leapt from her hiding place and took aim. Medusa hissed in victory, her eyes meeting Artemis's. Just at the last second, Artemis released the sword. It sang through the air, but the arm that threw it was already stone. Medusa realised her mistake a fraction too late; razor-sharp metal sliced through her neck. The snakes flared, hissed, one more time. Then all was stillness.

Damien ripped off his blindfold. Knowing there was nothing to be done, he then rushed for his comrade anyway. Tears shone in his eyes, and spilled down his cheeks when he stood before her frozen form. Three thousand years, she had been his companion, and now, coming so relatively soon after Donna's loss … She was not the first to fall. She would not be the last. But so much death. How many thousands of gorgons had he slain now, how many _hundreds of thousands_ more must come — and still the gods demanded a greater portion of his soul? Still what he had given was not enough?

He felt Batman's hand on his shoulder, where it rested for a couple of seconds. Damien knew the other man meant to comfort, condole with him, but it went unnoticed. No one could know what this level of loss felt like. He remembered a Champion some four centuries ago, Heracles, who had hardened his heart against it all, and shut himself off to all except duty. Damien had never been able to. He had tried — and maybe had been more successful than he thought. If he remembered Kel, Batwoman, but could not recall anything else ... Perhaps he had deliberately relinquished what was most precious. Deliberately relinquished his family.

"There is nothing else I can do," he murmured to himself, "but to continue."

"Continue?" Batman asked. "For what? For how long?"

"For the gods. And until they tell me we have enough." He kissed the stone of Artemis's face, and then made to kneel. He was stopped again by Batman. "What?"

"Don't."

"What?" He frowned. "Don't what? Pray for her _soul_?"

"Not to them. They're the ones who did this to you, to her."

"We knew the risks," Damien returned, equally angry, only his fury was hot. "The gods have every right to demand obedience."

"No one has the right to dictate anyone else's life. And you're an idiot for letting them."

"So what are you saying? That I have destroyed my life chasing a fool's errand for millennia?"

Batman's face was bleak and pitiless. "Yes."

"I cannot believe you," Damien returned, looking again at Artemis. She looked fierce, proud, sure she had gone to her death knowing she was in the right. "When It comes, we need to be ready. This is the only way to protect everything I care about."

"You have _no idea_ what you care about," Batman snarled, so viciously Damien was taken aback. Yet just as quickly as the Dark Knight's emotion had come, it disappeared again. "Finish your prayer," he said, "then we leave."

He tried but could not fall into the meditative state his prayer required. The grief, anger, despair all prevented him. Batman's voice, broadcasting a report to the others, was only the surface of the problem. His words were the rest—they had all been accurate and painful as daggers. He had no idea what, or who, he cared about. His father's face had blurred from his memory a long time ago. He had thought his wife and child would be long-dead, but seeing Kel, and Batwoman had ignited the hope that they may be reunited. But then more bitter tears were shed. He would not know either of them. His wife could stand before him and he would be unable to perceive her. The gods help him—perhaps it would be better if this quest claimed his life. With Artemis now gone … did he have anything to live for?

In the end, he left her there without a prayer for her soul. Kel reached out to clasp his shoulder as well as he moved past her, her expression far more compassionate than Batman's was. He walked to where Medusa's head lay, and a moment later they were en route to the Void. Batwoman, Diana, GL and Superman had obviously also been successful, as they were all there, alive if not entirely well. In addition to Shayera's wing, GL had a cut on his mouth, and Batman's shoulder had clearly been dislocated. But they were all living. And Damien did what he had learned to do: rejoiced in the only happiness he had: the relief for their safety.

"Where's Artemis?" he heard Flash ask as they moved through the cave. Damien put the Medusa head on the heart along with the two others collected today. "Oh," Flash said.

There was a quite moment, and Batwoman knelt beside Damien, silently for a moment. "I'm sorry," she said in a low, clear voice.

"It just seems like … too much," he whispered.

"It _is _too much," she replied, sentiment the same as Batman's had been, but tone so much gentler. "They have no right to ask this of you any longer. Enough is enough."

"Perhaps," he said.

"Follow Diana's example," she urged. "Come back to — their world, then ours. We can continue the mission from the Watchtower, with the full might of the League. You don't have to exist nowhere anymore."

He smiled bitterly and gestured around the cave, this mock-holy place. "I've lived here for millennia."

"You've never wanted to," she stated.

Apparently, she knew him better than he knew her — but then she wouldn't be Batwoman if she didn't. To change the subject, he motioned to her shoulder, which she was holding awkwardly with her other arm. "Has no one fixed that?"

"Waiting for the local anesthetic to kick in."

"And has it?"

She nodded, and moved towards Batman, but Damien stopped her. "May I?"

Surprised, she hesitated a moment, the nodded again. He took her wrist in gentle fingers and placed a spread palm on her ribs, just under her breast. The action was familiar, as though he had done this before. He had of course, with the brothers and sisters who had come and gone over the years — but _this _was familiar. The armoured torso and the leather gauntlets … he knew this. "Ready?"

"Do it."

Twist, grimace, pop, and it was back in place. Batwoman's jaw clenched once, twice, three times, but that was all the reaction she gave to the discomfort. Afterwards, she gazed at him intently for a moment. "So, will you come?"

His turn to nod.

The walls were obviously paper-thin when they stepped into Diana's world, and it was easier to pass from one place to another than he had ever known it to be. The Watchtower looked utterly alien to him. Anxiety and emotion overwhelmed him for a moment, and he had to put a hand out to steady himself. Slowly, it passed. He was no stranger to unfamiliar surroundings after all, and a few of the Medusas had lived in outer space themselves. Yet it was because this was not entirely unfamiliar that he was unsettled. His whole head ached, buzzing with recollections being tickled and roused. GL, Shayera and Batwoman headed for the med bay while Diana led the others to the commissary. Even the slightly antiseptic, freeze-dried food smells were awash with memory.

"Here." Diana held out a cup to him, condensation thick on the plastic.

"I … Do I like it?"

Flash snorted. "I'll say. Di goes through about twenty a day."

Experimentally, Damien sipped through the green plastic straw in the top of the cup. The tastes of coffee and chocolate flooded his mouth with deliciousness, just cold enough to be refreshing, but the flavours were comforting, warming ones. After an experimental sip turned into a huge gulp, Damien came up for air, the iced mocha all but gone. "Great Zeus."

Much laughter echoed around the table, and Diana handed him another one. "It may not be the home comfort you long most for," she said, "but I figured it would be a good start."

"Thank you."

He still had no appetite, but another four iced mochas in and he felt less shaky in his nerves, better able to cope. Literally he was _more_ shaky, having been exposed to more caffeine than he had in five thousand years, and it was playing havoc. It had also made his brain go at about two thousand miles an hour, and he couldn't seem to stop talking.

"Kel, how did you find me? Us, I mean? Were you looking, or weren't you, and if you weren't looking how did you find us and if you were how did you know where to look before you came here and who had the idea to come here-"

Kel laughed. "Easy, Damien. Remember to breathe, okay?"

"But how-"

"When you had been gone six weeks, with no word to your family, Batwoman suggested we seek aid in this world."

"Why here?"

"She'd exhausted every avenue she could find in ours, and she hypothesised that Diana might know more. I followed her here."

"I am sorry for all of your trouble," Damien said. "The idea was for you not to follow me at all, anywhere."

"Then you underestimated your friends," Kel said seriously. "And the strength of our bond with you. We had no idea what had happened to you — whether you had gone willingly, whether you were hurt or even if you'd been killed somehow."

"I am surprised to be still alive."

"Well, I'm thankful. And I'm sure B-Batwoman is too."

"I'm sure. Now that she's ascertained I'm safe she can get back to Gotham."

"You remember Gotham?" Kel asked, titled her head, an expression of mingled curiosity and excitement in her face.

"I remember _of_ it. I think I dream of it sometimes, just as I dream of Metrocity."

"Metro_polis_," Kel grinned. "Anyway, I'm sure Gotham is important to her, but so are you."

It only occurred to Damien ten minutes later than he'd not seen either Bat since they arrived on board the Watchtower. Where they might have disappeared to was a mystery.

* * *

Where they had disappeared to was the Batcave. Bella's arm was now in a sling to help take care of her healing tendons and ligaments while they reattached, but both of them were working on cultivating their suspicions. "Next step?"

"Play along for now. Go after the Medusas as though we're still following the gods' plan."

"And search for answers. Reasons."

"What does an all-powerful god want?"

"Not all-powerful. So more power maybe."

"Or to hold on to power."

"Why target the Champions?"

"Potential rivals. Demi-gods, Damien mentioned Heracles."

"Olympians killed or imprisoned the Titans."

"But why suspect them? No ambition to rule."

"Precaution?"

"Risk-takers. Egotists. They must have a reason."

"More research."

Bella looked up toward the manor. "Damien will be housed on the Watchtower?"

"Yes. He still has no idea."

"No."

"What are you going to do?"

"You have to ask?"

"I don't know what I would do."

"Then you have your answer. I have no idea what to do about Damien. But at the moment he isn't my priority."

"Your son."

She nodded, and removed her armour — and sling — before starting up the stairs. Bruce didn't need to ask what she'd do about the boy. A moment later he followed her, blinking at the unexpected and bright sunshine. Glancing at the time, he was unsurprised to find they'd been gone less than two hours. He found his daughter and Alfred in the kitchen. From the half-drunk glass of milk next to Bells, Bruce had been next to her until a moment ago. His mother thought it best to break the news as soon as possible.

"Daddy, you're back!"

Bella scrambled off the high stool for a hug, which he returned gladly. It had been at least a couple of days since he'd last seen her. "Hey, sweetie."

"Where's Mommy? She did come back with you, right?"

"Right. And she'll be home soon, she promises."

Bella's face puckered into a little frown. "Do you promise?"

It was another mark of how damaging even the initial stages of separation had been, Diana taking herself from her family. Bella should be able to trust her mother's promises. Deciding he would never tell Diana how badly their daughter's faith had been shaken, Bruce nodded firmly. "I promise as well. Did you have a good afternoon?"

"Uh-huh, we played games and baked cookies and I taught Bruce how to ride a bike! With training wheels on, but he'd never even done _that_ before," she said, her tone conspiratorial, like Bruce being unable to ride a bike was scandalous. With the next cheery sentence it was gone though. "And I was gonna pick some flowers out of the garden for Mommy, but Alfred didn't want me to so I drew a picture of them instead. Think she'll like it?"

"Why don't you show me?"

She raced out the kitchen to retrieve her drawing, and Bruce gratefully accepted the cup of coffee Alfred placed in front of him. "Thanks."

"You're certainly back sooner than I expected, Master Bruce."

"It was longer for us."

"I trust you were successful? It was impossible to tell from Mistress Bella's demeanor. She seems little happier than before."

"We found him. But the situation is … complicated."

* * *

**A/N: Review please! **


	11. Wounded

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! **

**Chapter Ten—Wounded**

It wasn't complicated for an adult to understand. For a six year old who just wanted his dad back … "I don't know what you mean, Mommy. Have you found him or not?"

"I found him, kiddo."

"Then why isn't he here? Doesn't he want to come home?"

"I'm sure he does, but he doesn't know we're here. "

"Why not? Didn't you tell him? Weren't you there?"

"I was there. But he's been gone a long time, and he's forgotten some things."

"How long has he been gone? And - And what has he forgotten?" Bruce asked, though his enormous blue eyes already knew the truth.

But it was a frightening truth, too scary for a child to give voice to. Bella fought the urge to close her eyes and weep; her son was already scared, and admitting Mommy was too would only compound things. But _God_ she was angry as well. How _dare_ Damien do this, put her in this position, of explaining to their only child that he had entirely forgotten him? How dare he leave them in the first place? How dare he wipe them from his mind just so that that _he _could feel better about what he'd done? When she was sure her voice wouldn't shake, he answered her son.

"He's been gone hundreds of years, for him. Thousands."

"But he's immortal, Daddy told me that meant he would live forever. So he's still the same, right?"

"In some ways. But those things he's forgotten … they're bits and pieces of us. So he knows you exist, and he knows he loves you _very _much, just as much as I do. But he might not …" and here her voice broke whether she willed it to or not. "He might not recognise you. Not at first."

"He's forgotten how we are?" Bruce cried. "That's impossible!"

"I wish it was, honey. He tried his hardest to remember, I know he did," she lied, "but he was gone so, so long."

"B-but what about you? You found him, you must have talked to him-"

"I had my mask on," Bella told him, drawing him to her in a vain effort to stop him crying. He did anyway.

"But he knows you're-"

"He did, baby, he did know. And he doesn't know at the moment — but we'll make him remember just as soon as we can. He'll learn it all, all over again, like school. And when that happened, when he does remember, then we can all go home together. I promise."

Bruce buried his face into the shoulder of her sweater, his tears soaking the cashmere. "I'm scared, Mommy."

"Don't be scared. Everything's going to be alright, I promise. I promise …"

She rocked him gently, soothing away as much of his fear as she could while her own crushed her into the seat. The only thing she had to hope for now was that Damien woke up to the truth on his own. Because if she had to do what she'd told Bruce she would, if she had to sit there with photos and birthdays and lists of school schedules, toys and Christ-knew-what-else, she might as well commit herself to Arkham now. She would be fit for nothing else.

There was a timid little knock on the door, and little Bella poked her head around the door. "Hey, Bruce? Wanna play some catch before it gets dark?"

"Can I?"

Big Bella nodded with what she hoped was an encouraging smile. "Go ahead."

In the time she had been explaining things to Bruce, Alfred and whipped up something to eat, and the smell of it wafted throughout the lower story of the manor. Drawn by her rumbling stomach, she headed to the kitchen, and found Bruce and Diana tucking into grilled cheese sandwiches. Diana immediately stood. "Bella, I'm so sorry."

"Do I look that terrible?" she joked weakly.

"I had no idea, the thought that it could be _possible _had never even crossed my-"

"Well it had mine," Bella interrupted quietly," so please don't think me completely unprepared. I wasn't. And now Bruce won't be either."

"You don't think it might be a trauma, to tell him like that?"

Bella glared — not as the Bat but as an angry mother. Slightly more terrifying. "Please, Princess, point out the non-traumatic course here! The only thing I can do for my son at this point is damage-limitation, that's it! There's no rainbow, no sunshine, no _happily ever after_. I'm sorry if confronting you with the ugly truth hurts, but it is ugly, and it's my life. It's Bruce's life. Hiding him from it won't shield him from it. That's all I'm trying to do."

"Have some food, madam," Alfred said in the silence that followed.

He said it pointedly, and Bella did obey him. She had no desire to eat anything, but her body needed fuel, so she ate her first sandwich in four bites, and the second in eight. The third she took her time with. "What?" she asked through a mouthful, when she noticed Diana and Bruce staring at him. "You've never seen a woman comfort eat before?"

Diana shook her head and looked as though she was glad that the children had not seen that display of bad table manners. "What's our next step?"

Bruce and Bella glanced at each other. _Not yet_. They had no more than a hunch themselves, and nothing would convince Diana but the strongest evidence. They needed to know more first. "We go after more Medusas," Bruce said. "We can't put the whole League on it but the Founders should keep doing so."

"The Medusa of our world was killed by Perseus," Bella said. "What about yours?"

"The same. With the magical weapons given to him by Athena."

"The shield."

"And the helmet. It's not well-known, but Athena also gave Perseus a helmet which rendered him invisible."

"What happened to them?"

"I don't know. They must have been either lost somewhere through the ages or destroyed."

"Worth pursuing."

"Starting?"

"Historical records, contemporary accounts."

Bella yawned. "In the morning."

"Agreed."

"Patrol?"

Bruce nodded once, and Bella went to get some shuteye before she got up again later that evening to join Batman on patrol. Not that she slept. In actuality she sat on the floor on her ensuite wetroom and pretended that the tears were just the hot water from the shower head. So close, he was so _close_. Leaving had broken her heart, him not remembering her hurt more than she could possibly articulate but the strongest emotion was the sheer _longing _to go, run to him, rip her cowl off and _show _him and kiss him and love him and- Pretend everything was as it had been a year ago. Pretend that they were still solid, still united — still free to do nothing but love each other. Things would never be the same. They could never return to that. She'd thought she knew that. Believing he had ceased to love her was one thing, and while that knowledge sat like a shard of ice in her brain, she had become used to it. It didn't impair her, and she still functioned. Maybe not lived, but after she knew what life could be, she hadn't had such high expectations. That shard of ice had shattered into a million pieces when the note came with the jet. He loved them. He loved _her_. Suddenly she couldn't move, couldn't think or carry on. From that moment, her existence had been about finding him — _to demand an explanation._ And now he couldn't give her one. And Diana's, however satisfied Bruce might have been with it, could not provide any solace to her.

Giving up on the idea of sleep before she had really considered it, Bella dressed once her hair was dry, then offered to read the children a bedtime story — Diana had beaten her to it — before collecting a coffee from Alfred (freshly made and waiting for her, like she'd known it would be) and headed into the batcave. Bruce would be down there as well after patrol, facing away from her and researching already: the gods. Any mentioned weaknesses, fears, anywhere in history. He didn't look like he was having much luck. Bella isolated one of the computer screens and began her own search, for Perseus' lost weapons. Helmet and shield. They worked in silence for over two hours, inching toward progress. Bella tracked the helmet through the War of Troy, where it had been taken by the Spartans as a spoil of war, back to Sparta where it had been lost in the Persian wars. There was no mention of either helmet nor shield until two hundred years later, and then the helmet showed up — worn by Alexander the Great and buried with him. His tomb had been long-lost, once in Alexandria but either consumed by time or destroyed by war. After that, the trail went cold for several centuries, and Batwoman was forced to abandon that particular line of investigation. There were always the old fallbacks though, searching for caches of ancient Greek antiquities uncovered in the past three hundred years. She discovered half a dozen, most of which had been broken up and sold off. There were only three helmets matching the description of Perseus', and only one that was extortionately expensive in comparison to the other one. And the same one was also dogged by rumours that it randomly disappeared for days or weeks at a time before mysteriously reappearing just as suddenly. It had passed through the hands of several museums and until eighteen months ago had been in the New York Museum of Antiquities. And then been stolen from the aforementioned museum without trace, December last year.

"Friend of yours?" she asked Bruce.

He scanned the police report she'd downloaded, then shook his head. "Not her style."

She nodded and continued looking for likely candidates. It wasn't an easy to sell item, even on the black market. It wasn't a high-value item on the surface of it, which suggested a specialist collector had commissioned the threat. So now she turned her attention to hunting down those collectors. Finally she narrowed it down to two: a far-right extremist political group in Greece, who were 'reclaiming' their national treasures by whatever means necessary, or Mr Yashumi Taketo, a Japanese billionaire living just south of Kobe. However, the political group tended to smash-and-grab jobs, then relying on sympathetic members to smuggle them to Greece. This had been a significantly stealthy job that suggested professionalism and discretion. And no one did discretion better than the Japanese.

"Got it."

"Where?"

"Kobe."

"Security?"

"Tight. _Very _tight."

"Need help?"

"Need the best."

They did need the best, but that meant one person, and before the thief could be approached with any kind of rationality, Gotham needed to be taken care of. And then sleep needed to be had. And then they'd make the call.

* * *

Damien was watching a woman sleep. She obviously was not sleeping well, yet nor had she noticed him, floating six feet above her. Damien knew he wasn't really doing it though. He was asleep, in the quarters in the Watchtower. And this woman, whoever she was, was entirely elsewhere. Damien didn't know why he was here, but he was concerned. Her white face looked pale and haggard next to her dark hair, and the bags under her eyes testified to how tired she must be — but her sleep was restless. She tossed and turned, occasionally whimpering or crying out softly before there was a moment of silence. But even in the silence her breath came in frightened pants. She trembled too.

_Damien, don't. Don't forget us, don't- Tell me you remember … We need you. _

The voice in his head was startling in its clarity. He didn't question how he could hear it, or why. It must be a gift of the gods. He was intended to help this woman, ease her pain. Pain caused by _his_ absence.

_Remember me. Remember me. _

There was only one person she could be. She had to be his wife. Gods, she was beautiful, he thought, wanting to touch her. He could not, so tried to recall the feel of her skin. Her face was soft, smooth. He didn't think her body was the same, though he didn't know how he knew that. Her hair smelled like … like … apple blossom and mint. If he could just stroke that hair back, kiss those smooth cheeks then maybe she wouldn't be so torn apart, she would be able to sleep. With a gasp, she sat up, eyes open and startlingly blue. They met his for a fraction of a second — and then wakefulness came for Damien, too. As soon as the room materialised around him, her face had gone, faded from his mind. He grabbed fruitlessly at the strands of clouded memory, but to no avail. But that had been her, that had been his wife, his own love- And now, just as gone as she had been for the last five thousand years.

He got up, throwing the covers in disgust with himself. He _couldn't _remember. Her name, the details of her face were all blurred, indistinct. He hadn't dreamed of his son, he knew that much- "But what difference would that have made?" he asked himself bitterly. "I wouldn't know him either."

He left his room and wandered, without a destination, around and around the Watchtower. Eventually, Kel caught up to him, her expression harried. She looked tired, and he told her so. "Yes, well, your muttering has kept me awake," she replied.

"Muttering?"

"You don't know you're doing it?" she asked. "For the last three hours, Damien, all I've heard is 'I can't remember, I want to remember, I need to remember but I can't-'. Over and over again. It's been driving me insane."

"And how do you imagine I feel?" Damien asked grimly.

"Batwoman …"

When she stopped, Damien cocked an eyebrow. "Batwoman has a theory, does she? Magically-induced amnesia, one too many gorgons to my blade?"

"No. She thinks that your brain unconsciously acted to save your sanity."

"My sanity? Athena help me, it has been a long time since I felt sane. Would a sane man simply forget everything he holds most dear?"

"If he has to, maybe," Kel replied.

"Would you?"

She looked at him with searching, intelligent blue eyes, and then replied honestly, "I can't imagine it."

"No."

"There's a meeting this morning, come on."

"A meeting?"

"The, uh, Dark _Knights_ think they've found something to help slay more gorgons."

"What?"

Kel shrugged. "That's what we're here to find out."

A moment later, they were assembled in the Council Room, three extra chairs in place for the other-world Leaguers. "We found the weapons of Perseus," Batwoman said.

"They would undoubtedly be powerful allies against Medusa," Diana said. "Where are they?"

"Japan."

"Well, we should be able to contact the Japanese government and arrange-"

"It's not in the hands of the government. This meeting has been called to ensure we are all in agreement."

Superman sat back in his chair, arms folded and looking serious. "It's one of _those_ then."

"Yes."

"I don't understand," Damien said. "We need those weapons, what is stopping us from getting them?"

"League regulation," Shayera said. "'If any illegal activity is to be undertaken in the course of League work, it must have full and unanimous sanction of the Founders'." She looked at Batman. "I'm assuming we mean theft, here."

"Yes."

The redhead shrugged. "Aye."

The others did the same, and all seven votes were collected and registered. The actual crime wouldn't be recorded anywhere, and nor would the reason for their voting. Just that a vote had been taken and was passed. There were forty eight scenarios that required such a measure.

"So who will be doing the theft?" Superman asked. "I assume we're out." He indicated his counterpart.

"Yes. Your powers would instantly give you away. Same goes for you two."

"It's looking like you two are the only likely candidates," Flash commented. "Why are you even doing this by the book? Normally you'd just do it and let the rest of us know afterwards."

"How far does your commitment go?" Batwoman asked, looking at Damien and Diana.

"What?"

"This is another step to nowhere. It might help you kill another Medusa."

"But what's one more?" Batman asked.

"What are you actually asking?" Diana asked, a little tersely.

"When are _you_ going to start asking?"

Damien let a tiny sigh escape him. He knew what they were talking about. And to the ultra-logical, purely rational Bat, their faith would be meaningless. It would be nonsensical. He spoke. "We won't."

Twin gazes looked at him, and he felt the burden of twin disappointments. "What are you aiming for?"

"The defeat of the creature," Diana replied. "To kill It."

"No, you're not," Batwoman said, "what you are aiming for is enough Medusa heads. And you have no idea how many is enough. You are never going hit that target. Nothing works like that."

"Faith does."

"Your faith isn't working. So, again: when are you going to start asking _how many_?"

Damien stood, lashingly angry at Batwoman. But shouting would do no good, raging wouldn't mean anything. He allowed his fury to show, but only in the malice edging his words. "Since you obviously don't need us, I suggest that we continue hunting Medusa on our own, while you retrieve Perseus' armaments."

"No," she said simply.

"I beg your pardon?"

"No. It would be stupid and suicidal. You're weary, you're wounded and you need rest."

"I have no wound."

"It's not physical." Before he could reply, she had moved the conversation on. "We need a thief."

* * *

**A/N: Review please! **


	12. The Master Thief

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! **

**Chapter Eleven — The Master Thief  
**

Bruce frowned. "Hoped to avoid that."

"Don't know any master thieves?" Flash asked. "I heard you know at least-" halfway through the sentence, he remembered the very recent marital problems Bruce and Diana had been going through, and stopped. "I mean, um…"

"You don't need to bring her in," Batwoman said.

Bruce turned. "You can't."

"What other choice do we have? Catwoman is the last thing you need right now." Her tone said the rest. _It isn't like he can ruin _my _marriage._

Diana squeezed Bella's hand briefly, and the tiny incline of Bruce's head conveyed all the gratitude it needed to. While their relationship was still a little fragile, having her prowling around was not what either he or Diana needed. Bella saw Clara grimace, but clearly she didn't have a better idea. Twenty minutes later, the portal was open. Damien gazed at it, his face full of longing even while his wife stood next to him.

"You coming?" Batwoman asked, voice entirely indifferent.

"I … I would love to, but- No. Not until all this is resolved."

She made no reply or gesture of farewell, and only walked straight into the portal. The skyline of her Gotham materialised around her, as the portal snapped shut. Despite being alone, and unobserved, she did not drop her composure or let her cool slip. She had a job to do. Pulling out her GPS tracker, she searched for the person she wanted. Every one of the people she kept tabs on was instantly traceable like this; Sebastian had found his tracker years ago, but kept hold of it. For, as he said, "When you get bored of your happily ever after, honey." Currently, he was in London. On the roof of the National Portrait Gallery, looked like.

"Batwoman to Watchtower."

"_Batwoman, I'm glad to hear from you," _My'ri'ah said in response. "_Is everything progressing? Have you found—"_

"Yes, we've found him. There are complications. I need you to transport me to the coordinates I'm sending you now."

"_Roger that. Standby."_

It was dark in London, cloudy and overcast. The only light came from the floodlights illuminating Admiral Nelson's column and the sickly orange street lights. The front of the gallery was floodlit too, the huge Roman façade seeming even more grandiose at night. There were a few entry points that she could see, but none that Sebastian would use. Too obvious. The idea was to sneak in and out in as impossible a way as possible, thus maintaining his reputation in the process. She knew he was already in there somewhere. She knew him. The best way to indulge his penchant for flair would be to come out the most heavily-secured possible — without alerting the guards, of course. She waited a safe distance from the likely roof hatch and did some research into what he was probably stealing. Stood a high chance of being Thomas Phillips' portrait of William Blake. He knew Bella loved Blake's poetry, and it was her birthday in a couple weeks' time. Normally, Sebastian's gift arrived in the mail a few days before. _He_ had never forgotten, she thought bitterly.

A few moments passed before a black shadow disconnected itself sinuously from the mass of the roof. Silently, naturally. He had a long black tube strapped to his back — her canvas, no doubt. He bent to reactivate the security systems, then straightened. Batwoman clung to the gloom a moment longer, centering herself. Normally she was impervious to Sebastian. She didn't think it'd be the same today, and she could afford to let absolutely nothing through.

Then she stepped out. Catman was checking his prize, opening the tube and pulling the canvas out a few inches. "I could feel you watching me five minutes ago," he said, casually putting the lid back on before turning to her. "You're normally more subtle than that, Bella."

"Off day."

"Here to stop me?"

"No."

"Brought the cops with you?"

"No."

"Something else boring like that?"

"No."

"_No_?" He moved toward her now, openly grinning now. When he reached her, he ran a gloved fingertip down her face. "Then did you have _fun _on your mind?"

"No."

"How disappointing."

"Need your help."

She turned and left, apparently confident he would follow. He did. As the portal opened, Catman was surprised, but he recovered quickly, and hooked an arm around her waist. "Wouldn't want to get separated now, would we?"

"Are you still ambidextrous?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I was just thinking how I only need one of your hands working."

The hand was removed, although he still stood uncomfortably close. They stepped through the portal together and found everyone waiting for them.

"A welcome party? You shouldn't have," Sebastian said with a grin. His smile disappeared as he saw Damien though, and he gave a curt nod. "Wonder Warrior."

Confusion flittered across Damien's face; he clearly had no recollection of Sebastian or the dramas his intrusion into their lives had often caused. Batwoman was relieved—it would make this whole thing easier and quicker. Until Seb noticed, and then she'd have to explain it to him. That would be fun. At the moment though, his gaze was flickering all over the cave. He immediately knew it wasn't their Watchtower, and it didn't take him long to pick out the significance of a Bat_man_ and a Wonder _Woman_. He needed only one questioning glance at Batwoman.

"Parallel world?"

She nodded, stepping down to the others. "Anything significant develop?"

"No. Hopefully significant developments will occur now we have our thief," Damien said. "Batwoman assures us you're the best."

"She's right." As Damien turned away, Seb shot her another look of confusion, but followed the others. "What am I stealing?"

"A helmet, a shield and a sword. All of ancient craft. Greek, to be precise," Diana said.

"Right. And what's in it for me?"

John answered that one. "You get to not have your entire universe devoured by a nameless faceless monster. Assuming this whole grand plan works."

"It will work," Damien snapped. He was obviously still feeling the pinch from having his religion criticised, as he said next, "Although we do not need Perseus' armaments. As I said, there are now two Champions available to do the gods' work, which I have told you will be plenty."

"Surely there is no harm in increasing our advantage," Diana pointed out, laying a placating hand on his shoulder. "This way others may kill Medusas as well."

"And what of the other Champions? We rarely go long without a third — now that Artemis is … is dead—" he broke off to clear his throat, "the gods will surely be sending a third soon. Where are they to go if not the Void? Who is to greet them?"

"You've got help now, Damien," Superwoman said. "Doesn't it make sense that you wouldn't need a third Champion anymore?"

"Yeah," Flash put in, "maybe they'll figure out they don't need to rip any more people away from their entire worlds."

"And their families," John said.

He seemed particularly disapproving of the whole situation — Bella had noticed he hadn't spoken to Diana or Damien if he could help it over the past few days. Still worked with them, and he wasn't exactly _angry_, just disapproving. Kyra would be the same. Oaths and vows meant a lot to Lanterns. Even more so when both were former marines. By abandoning their friends, family, responsibilities (or trying to, in Diana's case), the Amazons had broken vows and oaths of all descriptions. Not something a Green Lantern condoned. Dereliction of duty and honour could never be for the greater good. Bella found being around Kyra soothing a lot of the time. She was so balmingly simple to understand. Intelligent, brave, loyal, honourable and reliable — but not complicated. John was the same, and he was disappointed because Diana had been proven to be no the woman he'd thought. She'd made what had been the right choice to her, but John never would have made it himself.

In any case, John's words left an awkward silence in their wake. Shayera broke it. "You two could still go off and kill Medusas while Catman's getting the Perseus stuff, if it means that much to you. Me, I'd take the opportunity for my first lot of R and R in five thousand years, but that's just me."

"Five thousand years?" Sebastian repeated to Batwoman. "Either I'm missing something or you're all looking _really _good on it."

No one answered his remark. Batman gestured him forward curtly, toward a computer terminal. "We've compiled an outline of Yashumi's security. I can see seven ways of getting past it — but no way out."

Sebastian grinned, sliding in to familiar territory. "There's always a way out. Give me an hour."

"You have it," Bella said.

"And a cup of espresso wouldn't go amiss?"

"Don't push your luck. Shayera, watch him."

Catman grinned. "You're putting me in a room alone with a gorgeous redhead? I can live with this."

Shayera gave an equally wide grin. "Yeah, well, don't get too excited. There's gonna be three of us."

"Three?"

"Yeah. You, me, and my mace." She patted the spiked weapon affectionately as she sat down. "Chop chop. There's businessmen to be robbing."

"Yeah, yeah …"

They left the two of them to their respective scheming and watching, and headed to the council room. Batman brought up a display, speaking to Bella. "While you were gone, I calculated how many universes still contained Medusas." He tapped a couple of keys. 1777652 to the power of 10 appeared.

"That's … a lot," Flash managed.

"Yes."

"Do you think that the gods want you to get all of them, Princess?" Bella asked.

Diana shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I will admit that it seems … well, infeasible."

"That's putting it mildly," both Clara and Clark said. "Seventeen million, seven hundred and seventy seven thousand, six hundred and fifty two."

"To the power of ten," Bruce reminded them. "Everyone in this room — apart from you two — will be dead by the time we fail even to make a dent in that figure. Whatever the gods intend for you to do, it can't be continuing endlessly. We need more information."

"They have given us all the information they sit fit to," Diana reminded them.

"It's not enough," Bella said. "We need to ask for more. Athena has already proven she can be flexible on one point — she let us help you. She can't want this to go on any longer than it has to."

"I didn't realise you were so in tune with the mind of a goddess," Damien said acidly. "It would be impertinent in the extreme."

"Impertinent," she repeated, partly in disbelief and partly in utter rage. "So proving you can be a good little slave is more important to you than, say, getting the job done? Is that how _you_ feel, Diana?"

"Batwoman, it appears you still don't understand," Damien cut in. "There is no point in attempting to dissuade Diana from her faith — just as little as there is in attempting it with me."

"Your faith has no bearing on the situation," Bella snarled. "It's more to do with the fact that your grey matter has leaked out over the millennia, Damien!"

"How dare you—"

"How dare _you_ sit there claiming to be Wonder Warrior, Champion of the Amazons? You're nothing but a pale imitation of the man we knew. This insipid, blind, weak-willed idiot of a creature you are now is an insult to everything you think you're fighting for. Forget the rest of us, do _yourself _ a favour and wake up!"

"You have no right to speak to me like this!" Damien snapped, pushing to his feet. "You have no idea of the sacrifices I have made in pursuit of my duty. I will not be lectured by a cold-hearted, cold-blooded mortal about what it is now to be! Your only desire, your only _obsession _is your city, _which _I am trying to save, along with every other Gotham that exists! These are things too spiritual for your logical mind to penetrate, clearly!"

As Bella shot to her feet — and she had no idea what she'd do, blinded as she was — Clara was already there, between them. "Enough! Enough," she said. "This is doing neither of you any good."

Bella looked past her into Damien's face. She no longer recognised him. This kind of singlemindedness had always been her modus operandi. Obsession was the right word. She didn't know what she was obsessed by now — pain, it felt like. It almost felt worse than her parents. That had been ten seconds, two bangs, some pearls … and they hadn't wanted to leave her alone in that alley. Right now, she was in the darkest alley she had ever been in — rage and grief were such tiny words to encompass so much. She felt on the very brink of sanity.

"Good?" she felt herself sneer. "What good is there to be had now?"

"Diana," Damien said with forced calmness, "would you be so kind as to show me to a sparring suite? I feel the need for a little exercise."

"Of course."

As soon as both Amazons were gone, Bruce had his counterpart by the elbow and was tugging her into the corner. "Go back to the manor."

"But I can—"

"You can't do anything. You're broken."

He was right. He was entirely correct. She couldn't function like this. She nodded. "Alright."

"Good. Go back, get some food, be a mother to your son and do whatever you have to, repress whatever you have to. All you need to do—"

"—is function," she finished.

"Go now."

She stumbled gracefully from the room. And she did mean to go to the transporter room, she really did, but somehow her feet took her to somewhere else entirely. To Shayera and their house guest. To Sebastian. God, what was she doing? She didn't even hear what she said to Shayera, but the Thanagarian was passing her and leaving now. Catman still had his back to her, was still deep in concentration. Genuinely focused on his task.

"Seb …"

Her tone caught his attention instantly. She hadn't called him that in years. Much less with that level of emotion in her voice. "What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

Was that genuine concern? She couldn't tell. She squeezed her eyes shut. "Kiss me."

"What?"

He sounded genuinely stunned, and she couldn't blame him. But she repeated it anyway. "Kiss me."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to."

* * *

**A/N: Review please! **


	13. Like Father Like Son

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! **

**Chapter Twelve - Like Father Like Son  
**

"Bella, if this is some kind of test-"

"You have no idea how much I wish it was," she said.

She turned away. He wasn't going to kiss her, and it had been a mistake to ask him to. She wondered if it wasn't a mistake to have come to this world to begin with, to look for Damien at all. No one was doing what they were supposed to be doing. Damien wasn't remembering her, Clara wasn't looking after their world, she wasn't coping and cruising through it all, and Sebastian wasn't trying to lure her back. She needed to leave the Watchtower and go back to the manor that wasn't hers. Maybe drink a whole bottle of whisky.

"Keep working, Sebastian," she said. "We need those artefacts."

"I'm not doing anything until you tell me what's happened! Is it him? Bella, what is going on?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. It's not your problem."

Sebastian caught her shoulders. "If something has done this to you, then it does more than concern me."

She didn't want sympathy. She didn't want him to try and understand — Sebastian was reckless and passionate and selfish. That was why she'd wanted him to kiss her. No consequences. As soon as she tried to explain things …

"Talk to me," Sebastian urged. "If you let me I'll help you, just—"

She needed him to stop talking. She needed him to stop talking right now. She acted quickly, spinning around and crushing her lips to his. She felt him resist for just a moment, but then he gave in. His mouth turned warm and welcoming, his arms slid around her waist. He'd missed her, she could tell. It was strange, but instantly, she felt better. She felt calmer, clearer. Passion rose quickly between them — just to be held like this felt so _good_, so brilliantly bright. Desire she hadn't felt in months sprang up in her core. Seb's fingers traced up her sides, one hand moving to cup the back of her head while the other pulled her closer. She backed them against the console behind him, her own fingers reaching for his collar.

It was too much too fast for Seb; he took her hands and pulled away from her lips. "Stop. Slow down."

She nodded firmly. Logic was flowing again, and she no longer felt like she was thinking through a fog, or acting outside of herself. For whatever reason, she'd needed that kiss. She still had the taste of him on her lips.

Sebastian took a moment to get his breath back. "Batwoman, what the hell was that?"

"I told you. I wanted you to—"

The doors hissed open — Damien stood there, looking determined. Bella felt her heart begin to race, but refused to allow colour to appear in her cheeks. Good thing the door hadn't opened thirty seconds earlier though. As it was, the atmosphere was still charged. He looked between them for a moment with one eyebrow raised fractionally, the directed his gaze back to her. "Batwoman. May I have a word?"

She nodded once and stepped out into the hallway. "What is it?"

"I believe we have both spoken rashly, and missed each other's meaning. I wish to settle this difference of opinion."

She remained silent. Didn't seem likely that they'd be able to do that. They were both as stubborn as each other and it was hardly probable either of them would undergo a complete philosophical shift now.

"I do not think allies and … friends such as we should be on opposing sides. For my part, I cannot question the commands of my gods. I just can't. Their word has been my existence for so long it's simply impossible."

"I accept that," she said calmly. "However, will you accept the compromise we've suggested? Asking them for more information can't hurt. The most they can do is say no."

"I … That is true."

"So you'll do it?"

"I will."

"Good. Let us know what they say."

"I will. And I apologise for … disturbing you."

She left him without a backwards glance and headed back into the room where Sebastian waited. He was leaning against the door, mask pulled back and looking every bit as determined as Damien had a moment ago. "Tell me. Now."

"What? You think it's an odd way for a man to talk to his wife?"

"That's one way I could put it. He _apologised _for disturbing us. Does he know?"

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Divorced, Seb, remember?"

"Don't pretend to be so casual about it. Bella, even divorced that man would love you to the ends of the earth, so what's happened to change that?"

"He went past the ends of the earth," she said simply.

"He - Has he been brainwashed?"

"No. Time doesn't exist where he's been. It's been approximately five thousand years, remember? He's compartmentalized."

Seb looked stunned. "And what about you? Have you 'compartmentalized'?' he demanded. "Bella, this is _crazy_. When are you going to tell him?"

"I'm not."

"What?"

"Stay out of it."

"How can I-"

She grabbed his collar, roughly pulling him down to her eye-level and glaring at him with bared white teeth. "Sebastian, _stay out of it_."

"Fine, I will." She walked away, but still heard him add softly, "But you should know … I wouldn't have forgotten you."

No, he wouldn't. It was she who'd forgotten him — forgotten how he made her feel and why. Sebastian — Catman — belonged to her. To Batwoman. And Batwoman didn't need, didn't want normal relationships. Just enough human contact to meet her desires. Catman reminded her of who she was, what she was capable of and what she needed to be capable of now. Impassivity. Detachment. Hard on Sebastian, maybe, but he knew the game. Her feet paused, and she glanced back, but only for a moment.

* * *

Bruce watched Bella leave with a sense of relief. She wasn't coping. Not that he could blame her too much for her feelings. Having Diana pull away had been painful enough, and he was keeping an extremely tight rein on _his_ instinct to push her away now. Logic argued for it, as did paranoia: she had proven herself unpredictable, willing to sacrifice what should be most important to her, happy to act outside of the unit as a rogue element, capable of acting blindly on the orders of a few magical meglomaniacs, so how could she ever be trusted again— And so on. Batman refused to let those instincts develop into actions or even real thoughts.

Bella's instincts were running rampant, and clashing against the way she felt. It was a miracle she hadn't polarised yet. He was sure she would; it was only a matter of time. But if luck was on their side, then it would at least be postponed until after 'Catman' was gone.

"I know," Clara said with a sigh. She was looking at him. At his frown, she shook her head. "Don't worry, telepathy isn't a Kryptonian power in our world. I just mean I'm worried about her too."

"Don't be. She'll get over it. We always do."

Twin noises of derision sounded from both Superman and Superwoman, though it was hidden after the glare they received.

"We need to talk about the gods," Batman said. Without Diana or Damien in the room, now was the only opportunity they might get. "About their true motive."

"You don't think it's what they claim?" J'onn asked.

"You saw the numbers. They don't add up. At best, this has to be a delaying tactic."

"And at worst?" Clark asked.

The answering silence conveyed the gravity of that scenario.

"Are you going to tell Diana?" John asked. "If she's being played she deserves to know."

"Not yet. Not enough evidence."

"And Bella?" Clara questioned.

"Agrees."

"Even if Diana is willing to believe you without the weight of much evidence, it is unlikely Damien will do the same," J'onn pointed out. "Barring Superwoman and Batwoman, he is liable to trust none of us."

"What do you suggest?"

"That we attempt to restore his memory. I believe I could assist greatly, and it would remove many difficulties."

"And create more than a few more." But the idea wasn't without its merits. Coldly, he believed one of them might be the mountain of guilt that would land on top of Damien. If he was trying to make amends to his wife, he was unlikely to reject any claims she made at the time. "I'll consider it."

"Surely it's Bella who needs to consider it?" Clara frowned.

"We may not have time to wait for her. She isn't thinking clearly."

No arguments came against that. "What do we do in the meantime?"

"Run interference. We need time for research and evidence gathering, and to avoid Amazon heroics. Keep them both busy, if you can."

"How long will you need?"

"Assuming Catman has a viable plan to steal Yashumi's treasure, 48 hours."

Superman nodded. "You'll have it."

"For now, get some rest."

They broke up, and Bruce went to a terminal to remotely connect him to the Batcave. No upcoming drop-offs, likely assassinations or brewing turf wars. Of the rogues, all except Ivy were inside, and she was currently somewhere in the Congo. Not Gotham's problem at the moment. Good. He could afford to work through the night, and only go out if the batsignal lit up.

Across the room, the doors opened, admitting his wife. She was conspicuously without her twin. "Everything alright?"

"I hope so. I persuaded Damien to find Batwoman and bury this … animosity. It's so strange to see them fighting like that."

"We've had our share of disagreements."

Diana moved toward him, resting her palms on his shoulders. "I know, but that seemed, I don't know, private somehow."

"He doesn't remember they're married, otherwise it probably would have been."

Bruce felt Diana tense. "They're not though, are they? Married, I mean. Not legally."

He turned his head. "Princess?"

"I'm sorry. It's simply incredibly disheartening to look at Damien and _know _that, after all …"

"You would have gone that far."

She nodded, her beautiful face a picture of sadness. "I thank Hera for Bella coming when she did. And I thank Aphrodite for you, my love."

This was decidedly not the moment to mention his suspicions, so Bruce raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"I love you, Bruce."

"I love you too, Princess."

"Can we go home, do you think? I miss Bells."

"Alright, I'm done here."

"Do you think … Do you think that we should invite Damien to stay at the manor as well?"

"Not right now. Their son couldn't—"

"Oh, Hera, no," Diana groaned. "I'd nearly forgotten. No, we couldn't do that to the child. That would be worse than …" she trailed off with a questioning look at him. He understood: would it be worse than his father not coming back at all? Bruce had no idea. He could only speak from his own experience. But yeah … having one's father come home with no memory of his son? That definitely ranked as childhood trauma.

"If he remembered then it would be a different story, I suppose. I tried to jog his memory of Themyscira, of his world, the League, but it was useless. It's as though everything he knows, he's learned from a book. There was no emotional connection. Is that what you and Bella meant? That he has deliberately severed the link?"

"Deliberately or unconsciously over the centuries, but yes. That's what has happened. Any emotional connection to his mission - Bella's identity, or his father - has been cut."

She closed her eyes and murmured something in her mother tongue. Bruce roughly translated it as 'Bloody hell'. Fitting.

They gave instructions for Catman and Damien to each be given quarters on the Watchtower. Quarters far apart, just in case Damien's memory came back in the middle of the nigh.t And Catman's room would be locked from the outside and monitored all night. They they went home to find Bella and Alfred teaching the kids to play poker.

They were a little young for it, perhaps, but at least adult Bella, Bruce was pleased to see, looked far better than she had earlier. It was a veneer, that was obvious to every adult in the room, but her smiles and laughter were enough for the children.

"I fold again!" she cried with a grin. She threw her cards down on the table and ruffled little Bella's hair. "You are far too good at the bluff, Miss Wayne!"

"Does this mean I win again?"

"Looks that way."

"Yay! Mommy, Daddy! Look how much candy I won!"

"Well done, my little sun and stars. But you're not eating it all at once."

"I didn't know I was so good at lying!" Bella said brightly. "Mommy always says truth is the best thing."

"Oh, and she's right, little one," her 'aunt' said, "but I'll tell you one thing."

"What?"

"It means you'll make a great Batwoman one day." Bella looked up at Bruce and Diana and winked briefly before standing. "Come on, let's tidy up, you two."

* * *

As they were doing so, Bella's son took her hand and tugged her into an armchair, settling himself in her lap. "Mommy … I can't bluff."

She chuckled. "Well there's time to learn that, kiddo."

"I guess …"

"What's up?"

"Well, if I _don't_ lean how to bluff, does that mean I can't be Batman when I grow up?"

She smiled sadly. "Oh you don't want to be a Bat, sweetie. You get to have hardly any fun, and it's dark and dirty and it … it hurts sometimes. You belong in the light, Bruce. With truth and honour and kindness. You should be where the whole planet can see how wonderful you are." She kissed his nose. "And how brilliantly you'll shine."

Bruce's face brightened. "You mean like Daddy?"

"Yeah," she nodded slowly. "Like Daddy."

"I miss him, Mommy."

Bella decided, right then, that she didn't care how painful it was for her, for Damien, how damn inconvenient it was for anyone else — she was going to find Damien and _make _him remember. She only hoped her courage would not fail her. "I miss him too, sweetie."

* * *

**A/N: For those of you thinking: Bloody hell she's taking a long time at the memory thing, yes, yes I am, but it's very very close now I promise!**

**Review please! **


	14. Selective Memory

**A/N: I'm taking a modicum of creative license with Japanese history here, so I am very sorry for that. I've also cherry-picked Greek mythology for this chapter (hell, the whole story), so please don't be expecting accuracy. However, feel free to enjoy the update! **

**Chapter Thirteen — Selective Memory  
**

After the children had been read their story and given warm milk, Diana decided to get an early night too and went upstairs to take a bath. By mutual and silent assent, Bruce and Bella went down to the cave. Each of them went to separate computers.

"I'll take the Titans," she said.

"Fine. I've got heroes."

They went to their tasks — Bella researching the Titans, to see how they had fallen, why they had and attempting to see if there might be any kind of pattern to be learned from now. Bruce was doing the same, only from the point of view of the ancient Greek heroes.

After an hour or so of work, Batman's voice echoed across the cave quietly. "What changed?"

Her fingers paused on the keyboard as she debated what to tell him about what had been responsible for her improvement. "Sebastian," she finally said honestly.

Bruce's fingers paused, but he either understood or didn't wish to pry, because he passed no comment. They continued working.

Bella's main focuses were the only surviving Titan, Prometheus, and the Five Ages of Man. There was a possibility that the 'It' that they had all been told to fear was in fact Prometheus himself. In some versions of myth, she found that he had been responsible for the creation of man completely, others only for gifting humanity with fire. In all versions, his punishment for disobeying Zeus was to be chained to a rock and have his liver eaten every day. However, some historians stated that Heracles had released him. Nowhere could she find evidence that Prometheus was dead.

She made notes as she worked, sending them over to Bruce's screen as she did.

**Bio: Prometheus, titan, born of Gaia and Iapetus. Creator of mankind, forming species from clay. Ally of Olympians against own kind — motive? — but turned against Zeus by offering fire to man. Punished for eternity, may be at large. **

**Location: Unknown.**

**Threat level: Unknown, depending on loyalties. **

**Priority: High. If located and brought on side then valuable asset. **

Then there were the Five Ages of Man. Five successive races of humanity created and destroyed by the gods. Four had been formed and destroyed by Zeus. The other race, that of the 'Golden Age' had been done by Cronos — the father of Zeus and King of the Titans. Obviously that had never happened in her world, or Bruce's; the origins of humanity had been made clear in fossil and archaeological remains. Their humanities had evolved, not been formed the way Diana and Damien had. But there was every possibility that in other worlds, humans had been made by the gods. The race Cronos had made had given rise to the 'Golden Age', where mortals and gods lived and 'mingled' together, and where humans had not physically aged but lived to antiquity and then passed on joyfully. It was not something that had been repeated by Zeus, and this habit he seemed to have of destroying his creations over and over was decidedly worrying. And possibly the motive for destroying the Amazon champions? They were, after all, children of the gods. In this world, it was possible that Hippolyta was Ares' daughter, and that Diana was in fact Hades' child herself.

The file that Bruce sent over was shorter: a list of Greek heroes and their deaths. It didn't make for happy reading.

**Heracles: Poisoned by his own hydra-bloodied arrows. **

**Achilles: Killed by an arrow from Paris. The heel according to some sources. **

**Perseus: Died of old age, placed in the stars. **

**Jason: Lost the favour of Hera. Killed by own boat. **

**Odysseus: Murdered by own son. **

**Theseus: Thrown from a cliff. **

**Et cetera. **

After they were finished researching individually, they stood in front of the main screen, composing theories.

"Apart from Perseus," Bella said, "could you find any of the others whom they treated … favourably?"

"No. If you're favoured by some gods, you're hated by others. With that one exception, Greek heroes died in obscurity and poverty, or were murdered."

They glanced at each other. That didn't sound good for either of the people they knew who'd been 'blessed' by the gods. Children of the gods were destroyed by their parents when they became too powerful on the mortal world they inhabited.

"Why, though?"

Bruce brought up the information on Prometheus. "Look there."

"The prophecy by Gaia?"

"Told by her to her son, Prometheus, detailing the fall of Zeus. The threat against him."

"There's no more detail than that," she said. "At least none I could find."

"So nowhere then."

"We'd need access to Themysciran archives to know for sure."

"Could we do that?"

"Possibly. It would have to be our Themyscira. If Hades thinks I'm still looking for Damien then he'll give me access to anything I ask for. If that fails-"

"-we need Prometheus. We need to know what Gaia told him."

"Tomorrow," she decided. "After Sebastian has the artefacts, we'll go back to our world and I'll go to Themyscira. Seb can … He can …"

"Do you need him?" Bruce asked flatly.

He wouldn't judge her either way. And he was about the only person in any world who wouldn't judge her. "Yes," she replied. "Until all this is over I need him in order to be _this_," she emphasised, gesturing at her Batwoman regalia. "And he anchors me to it."

Batman nodded once and carried on. Bella's reasons for keeping Sebastian close were exactly the same as his were for pushing Selina away. Because with them, they could be only one side of themselves. Until they'd removed the threat, whatever It was, until Damien remembered and Bella knew whether she had a marriage to salvage, what she needed to be was just that: one-dimensional. Diana loved all sides. So did Damien. Not useful for Bella at the moment.

Batwoman pushed away from the computer. "Can you do without me for a few hours?"

He nodded. "I'll locate Prometheus. Where are you going?"

"I have a promise to keep."

Batwoman beamed up to the Watchtower, and knowing that she had the tactic approval of the council to be there (really, Batman's approval would have been enough), none of the civilian staff questioned her right to be there. It was two a.m., but she knew Seb would still be awake. He was a nightowl, like she was. Even if he'd finished working out the way to complete the robbery, he'd still be up. Probably itching to be free and away from this place.

She made her way to his quarters and knocked on the door. Seb answered without his mask on. She frowned. "The cameras are on you."

"And? I don't exist in this world. Who cares if my face gets splashed around?"

"Can't imagine Selina Kyle would be too happy about it …" she muttered.

"Who?"

She shook her head and went inside. "Have you done it? Got the plan ready?"

"Yeah, of course. You didn't think I'd fail did you?"

She smirked. "Not for a second."

"Luck's on our side anyway," he continued. "They're going to be out of the house most of the day, and the more valuable pieces in his collection are on their way to the Tokyo National Museum as we speak. He's paranoid, so he's taken about half his security staff with them."

"Exhibition?"

"Yeah. Getting in's the easy part, as you know — but now getting out should be easy as pie. Come on, I'll show you." He sat at the computer and pulled up a rotating 3D display. "His house is isolated, in the hills. Three stories, and old — everything about this guy is to do with old stuff, he loves them. I'm stealing the Perseus stuff you want but I'm _also_ taking this: the helmet of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro."

"Who?"

"Arguably the most famous shogun in Japanese history. Yashumi's most prized possession."

"And why are you taking it?"

"I'm not, not really. Just moving it. The remaining guards will be so panicked they'll rush to this side of the house."

"And while they investigate-"

"They'll run full diagnostics on the security systems. Which means this passage under here — normally covered in motion sensors, lasers, pressure pads et cetera — will be easy for me to get out of. Simple."

She smiled. "Easy as pie indeed."

"I'm a genius right? Tell me I'm a genius."

"You're smart enough," she said.

"But not a genius?" he asked, standing. "And I suppose you get to decide because you're the genius?"

"Sounds about right," she nodded, knowing she was encouraging him and doing nothing to stop herself flirting back.

And Sebastian was definitely encouraged. "I think you know I'm a genius in _certain_ areas," he said.

He'd moved into her personal space, so close she could feel the heat of him and feel herself responding. "I remember."

This time, he kissed her, more passionately and more fiercely than before, devouring her lips. After he'd thoroughly stolen the breath from her lungs, though, he took a firm step back. "I want you to pick me. I don't think you will, but I want you to."

"I'm here now," Batwoman replied, somewhat coldly.

"I don't think you know why though. And until you know why," he pressed the button for the door, "I can't do this. Go do what you came here to do, Bella. And don't come back until you've done it."

* * *

"_Are- Are you sure, Daddy?" _

"_Absolutely," Damien smiled. "Now, take the controls in both hands, like this." _

"_Okay …" _

"_Pull it towards you to go faster, slowly at first." _

_He watched the back of his son's head as he went through Damien's instructions, going step by step_ _into his first flying lesson. He had a natural talent for it, and they soared free and clear over America's east coast, heading for home. Damien's hands covered the boy's only lightly when they started preparations. _

_He glanced up at his father, but Damien's eyes were on the sky and land before them, and he missed his son's expression. He heard the uncertainty in his voice, though. "Don't you think I can do it, Daddy?" _

"_I'm sure you could. But landing is tricky and it's your first day. And …"_

"_And what?" _

"_And Mommy would be _very _upset if we clipped the east wing." _

The dream dissolved away like the bubbles of his son's laughter, and Damien snapped away. Great Zeus … why couldn't he remember his face? His name? He'd abandoned both of them so badly — perhaps his punishment was _never _to remember them, to scour creation for them and simply not to find them. Damien got out of bed, shaking his head. No. If nothing else, he could rely on Kel's help. And maybe Batwoman's too. He would find them. How he would begin to make amends, however …

Artemis would have advocated the most practical, most direct route. She would have told him there was no point in moping, no point in mooning. He should just get up, go to his family and throw himself on their mercy, proving that he loved them more than anything else in all the worlds. Stop being so bloody pathetic. He smiled at the hypothetical conversation they might have had, but the smile had a bitter edge to it. Artemis was gone now. No more than an unfeeling lump of stone.

He left his quarters in a vain effort to escape the grief, and found himself in front of an enormous viewing window. It showed the upper curve of the Earth, the silver moon just behind it, stars framing the whole setting. The infinity of it all made it a wonderfully appropriate place for grief. Heart heavy and full of sorrow, Damien stood still and glared at those stars.

Soft footsteps sounded behind him, and Batwoman materialised beside him. "You're so sad. Why aren't you crying?" she asked calmly.

"Some things run too deep for tears."

She nodded. "Artemis."

"Yes. She was my companion for so long, it … Facing the future without her seems almost incomprehensible."

Batwoman took a deep breath. It almost sounded as though she was steeling herself for something. "So you and she, were you …?"

"No."

"Why not?"

He frowned as if the question made no sense, then replied slowly, "It would have been … wrong."

There was a pause of half a second, but no waver in Batwoman's voice when she replied. "Why?"

"Because I have a family."

She turned from him, so that now he couldn't see any of her face. "Are you sure?"

"According to the records I've kept, yes."

"The records."

"Yes. A wife and a child."

"But you don't know their names. You don't know their faces."

He could not have said what made him do it, but when she went to walk away, he took her arm and stopped her. "But you must. Batwoman, I can't imagine you haven't looked after them-"

"I've looked after them," she nodded quietly, the earthlight catching her hair as she did. "But it's not me they need. It's you. You're what's missing from a lot of things now."

"No one's irreplaceable."

"Everyone is," she corrected, iron in her voice, "but you most of all. There might be copies, Prince, but you are the only one of you in existence anywhere. And you're a fool if you think otherwise. You're irreplaceable to the League, to your friends, to your father, to your wife. To a son who's never stopped hero-worshipping his father."

"You think I betrayed you."

Her breath hitched, and he realised what he'd said. Her face. He needed to see her face. When he tried to turn her to face him though, he met strong resistance, so he moved instead, and lifted her face to his, and pulled off her mask. Her expression could not have been more rigid; hard and emotionless. All that was undone, though, by the liquid softness of her eyes. The pain in them shimmered, silver glints in otherwise navy eyes. It would have been beautiful apart from the wrench in his chest it caused. Suddenly he knew.

"Bella…"

"Let me go."

"No. How could I?"

"You managed it once."

But that didn't make sense. That didn't make any sense at all. It was impossible. If everything in him was now crying out for this woman, then how much worse must it have been the first time, tearing away from her? Why would he put either of them through it? Without further thought on the subject, he lowered his head and kissed her.

At first there was no response, and then it was so soft, so gentle, that he wasn't sure she was responding after all. Her shoulders shook with repressed sobs as his arms came up to her waist, and her arms slid around his shoulders. When he moved his mouth slightly to kiss the corners of her mouth, tears shook down her cheeks.

"Damien," she murmured. "Damien."

He didn't say anything, only moved back to her mouth, running his fingers through her hair, cupping her head and pressing her closer, kissing her harder. Memories exploded across his mind and his senses. Her hair _did _smell like apple blossom and mint, and he remembered the first time he had been close enough to smell it, he remembered dancing in Paris, he remembered being surrounded by a dark curtain of it the first time they made love— Another sob shook her, and he remembered the first time he'd ever seen her cry, but that had been a happy time, the day Bruce was born _great gods Bruce_. Their child, their little boy. Bella had been so joyful, so proud when he was delivered, nine pounds three ounces of beautiful baby, and he, Damien, had been beyond joyful, had been transcendent with it—

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, my darling, Bella, I-"

She kept crying, but reached up and pressed their mouths together again, pulling him so close she surely couldn't breathe. "I can't believe …"

Damien grabbed her hands in his, kissing them both and staring into her eyes. "Believe it, Bella, believe me. I'm here. I'm here and I promise, I _swear _to you I will never, never leave you again. I promise, I promise …"

She allowed one more sob to choke her, but then her breathing calmed, her back straightened. She touched his cheek once more and then wiped her face, finally sliding her mask back on.

"Bella…" He reached out to touch her shoulder, but she moved away from his hand before he could.

"Later," she said cooly. "There'll be time later. You have some things you need to say to your son before we do anything."

* * *

**A/N: Review please! **


	15. Reunion

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! For anyone reading too closely, let's assume Alfred's super-Britishness means he doesn't sleep. **

**Chapter Fourteen — Reunion  
**

As she said it, anticipation and relief filled Damien. The guilt would come later, he knew, and come crushingly, but for now all that mattered was that he would be reunited with his whole family. "Of course, of course. Is he with Winifred, in our world?"

She shook her head. "I couldn't leave him alone."

She meant _without both of us_, he knew, and felt the first stab. He welcomed it, knowing it was both natural and just.

"I brought him with me. He's in the manor of this world."

Damien nodded. "And how much does he …"

"Does he know? Everything, Prince. I had to tell him everything."

She'd had no idea if he'd ever remember, he realised. She'd had no idea if she wouldn't have to explain to him who his son was. Damien pulled her to a halt. "Bella, I— I never meant to-"

"Forget us? Irrelevant now."

"It's not irrelevant," he argued. "I fought tooth and nail to hold onto you-"

"No you didn't," he cut him off flatly. "You couldn't. If you had, you'd have been driven mad. You _stopped _fighting."

It made him feel worse that she didn't sound angry. She just stood there, callously stating psychological fact with no indication that she cared at all. He fought against the instinct to push her further. She was implacable and it would do no good. And as she'd said: there was time later. He needed to see Bruce _now_.

"Alright," he said finally, "but know that I'm not letting you go ever again. Either of you. I promise."

Whatever reaction she had to that, she kept internal, and led the way to the transporters in silence. The Batcave, even knowing it wasn't theirs, was another familiar sight that caused a rush of memory. Over there was where they'd fought off Thanagarians, over by the giant penny was where he'd worked urgently with Winifred to save Bella's life when she'd been grievously shot. He looked at his wife in astonishment, not even noticing the cold impassivity of her look. Five thousand years' worth of amnesia, and Bella had just … lifted it, unlocking his mind. It made perfect sense when he took a moment to think about it. She had always been the key.

The cave was empty apart from the two of them, and when Bella checked, the Batsignal was illuminated. Batman must be out in his city, his Gotham. Bella turned away from the computer with a nod. "Come on," she said. "You can see Bruce but it's late. He'll be asleep. I trust you won't disturb him."

He shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay with him until morning."

Bella detached her cape and removed her mask before they went upstairs, but he could no more read her expression now than he could when it was hidden. She led the way to the bedroom that Bruce now slept in, opening the door so that enough light from the hallway spilled into the room. The sleeping boy in the bed stirred towards the light, but didn't wake.

"He— He's grown," Damien said in a choked whisper.

Bella remained motionless as he went into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed. His hand trembled as he reached out to touch Bruce's hair. It was soft, mussed and tousled with sleep. His eyelashes just brushed his cheeks, a smattering of freckles across his nose. He smelled of soap, clean and peaceful. Or maybe not so peaceful; his littler hands were balled into fists. His fingers uncurled as Damien took them into his own, but he still looked tired.

"Does he— Does he sleep well?"

"He hasn't been," Bella murmured in reply. "It'll be better now you're home."

Yes. Yes, everything would be better now he was home. He would keep all those promises he'd purposefully broken — he would play football and baseball until the cows came home, read every bedtime story, go to every school recital, would teach Bruce how to horseback-ride and how to wield a sword once he got old enough. There would be time enough for everything now.

Damien leaned forward and kissed Bruce's forehead. "I won't waste a moment of it, my son. I promise."

There was the very soft clearing of a throat from behind Bella. It was a discreet sound Damien had heard so many times before, only in slightly higher pitch. It was just as polite as Winifred had ever been. Bella turned to speak to Alfred. "I take it, then, that his Royal Highness will also be requiring a room?"

"If Bruce won't mind. It would be … simpler having Damien here rather than up there."

"Of course. Princess Diana felt much the same."

Damien went to the door. "What about you?" he asked Bella.

"I'm next door," she said, in a tone very emphatically stating _And I'm not sharing. _As if he thought for a moment-! No. He could never be so unfeeling as to think or expect it. Even the most relaxed and easy-going person in the world would be having a hard time right now, Zeus only knew what Bella—

"Daddy?" came a small voice. Both Damien and Bella froze. "Daddy, is that— Is it you?"

Damien's heart felt like it would thunder right out of his chest, but it broke as he turned to see the expression on Bruce's face. It was full of hope and fear. The fear made a lead weight settle in his stomach. What had he done to them both?

He crossed quickly to the bed, kneeling. "Yes, my little sun and stars. It's me, I'm-"

Bruce fairly launched himself into Damien's arms, his hands tight around his neck. A sob built in the Amazon's chest as he pulled his son closer. "I'm here, I'm here. It's me, Bruce."

Bruce sniffed hard. "And you won't- You won't go away again?"

"Never. I promise."

Bruce pulled back and looked over Damien's shoulder at Bella. "Mommy?"

"I promise too, kiddo," she said throatily.

Bruce made a contented noise and went back to hugging his father. Damien felt his eyes grow hot with remorse. He kissed Bruce's hair. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I'm _so _sorry."

"Mommy said you wouldn't remember us," Bruce said. "She said you couldn't."

"She was right, little sun and stars. But I never wanted to forget you and I … I was gone a very long time, for me. I …"

"What made you remember?"

Damien looked up at Bella's standing figure, his heart full of love and admiration for her. "Your mother did. She reminded me who I really was. Who you both are and how vital you are to me."

"Then you're gonna stay with us?"

"As long as you want me to, Bruce. As long as the stars wheel. I promise."

"So — so you'll _definitely _be here for breakfast then?"

Damien chuckled. "Of course! I'll be right here when you wake up."

"I can't go back to sleep now! You have to tell me what you've been doing and I have to tell you what I've been doing and then we have to pack our things and go home to our house and Winifred."

"How about we make some coca and talk downstairs then, hmm?"

"Yeah let's do that." Still clutching his father's hand, Bruce led the way towards the stairs. Apparently thinking she could get away with it, Bella started to slip away toward the cave. Their son's eyes were too quick though, and he stopped. "Mommy, you have to come too!"

She trailed them down the stars with an assenting nod and then sat in an armchair across from their couch. An hour or so after Damien and Bruce had started sharing their stories and laughter, the prince looked over at his wife. She was fast asleep, her head pillowed on her arm.

"Mommy hasn't slept ok in a while," Bruce whispered to him.

Because of Damien. Because he had disappeared completely, after breaking her heart with deceit and lies. After doing so _deliberately._ After all that, now she only slept soundly because he was here. Mingled relief and guilt flooded his soul, filling up every cell. She still loved him. And he did not deserve it.

* * *

Diana was woken by her daughter shortly after dawn. Bella had obviously decided today was going to be one of those days where she woke her parents up as early as possible to share in the morning. She had often clambered into her mother's bed as a girl.

"Mommy, are you awake?"

"No, Bells, I'm not," Diana whispered.

"Liar! C'mon, Mommy, open your eyes!"

She did so, looking into Bella's blue eyes. She was pouting, however. "What's the matter, my little sun and stars?"

"I can't watch Sponge Bob."

"Why not?"

"Because everyone's asleep in the living room!"

Diana blinked the last of her sleepiness away. "Everyone? Who's everyone?"

"Auntie Bella and little Bruce and another man I don't know. He looked a bit like you though."

"Damien? Damien is here?"

Bella, of course, could only shrug. "I don't know. I guess so, if that's his name."

Diana laughed aloud. "Thank Aphrodite! He must have remembered he must have- Oh, blessings on them all!" She got out of bed and pulled on a robe, still with a wide grin that was utterly incomprehensible to her daughter.

"Um, I don't think Daddy's come up here yet," Bella said.

Diana opened the bedroom door to find Alfred about to knock, a breakfast tray in his hands. "Good morning, madam."

"Oh, the morning is more than good, Alfred! Is Damien really here?"

"Yes. I believe Mistress Bella brought him a little after three a.m. this morning. The family is downstairs in the drawing room. Master Bruce is down in the cave — he returned only an hour or so ago."

"Unhurt?"

"Yes, madam, quite safe."

"Has he eaten?"

"Not yet. His breakfast was my next stop."

"We'll take it down, won't we, Bella?"

It was rare Bella was allowed down into the cave, so she leapt up with a smile on her face. "Yeah!"

"Get your slippers. There's things you don't want to step in down there."

Bella wrinkled her nose, clearly remembering the last time she had ignored that particular instruction from her mother. It had been messy. And smelly. And as punishment she'd been made to clean it all up. "Alright, Mommy."

She raced past Alfred to get to her room, and he watched her with a grandfatherly, affectionate smile. "It's so good to see her happy again," he murmured.

Diana's own smile vanished like a cat up a tree. "Alfred, I … It was never my intention to hurt either of them. No, that's not true — it _was_ my intention, but I never wanted to. And I _certainly_ would not have done it had I not thought it was the only way to keep them both safe."

Alfred's smile had also faded, though his aged features were not harsh. "If I may, madam, I think you know that wouldn't have worked. Just look at Mistress Bella and Prince Damien. Even sorely wounded in spirit, she crossed worlds to find him. Do not do Master Bruce the disservice of imagining he would not have done the same for you."

Thoroughly humbled now, Diana swallowed hard against the knot of guilt in her chest. "But this way is better, isn't it? Better than-"

"Most certainly. They still have a long journey ahead of them, I fear. And it may not lead to the same destination." He smiled once more, warmth coming back into his features. "But please don't worry overmuch. The important thing is that you are _not_ him. You have not left us. Things may have been damaged, but nothing has been broken. Just be here, and all will be well."

Diana hugged him gently. "Thank you, Alfred."

"No need, madam. I'll go and prepare Master Wayne's tray."

They took it down to Bruce, who was just finishing his logs for the evening. Unsurprisingly, he reached for the coffee first. While he drank, and despite knowing he was fine, Diana looked him over anyway, for any sign that he might be worse for wear. Noticing her appraisal, he squeezed her hand in reassurance.

"We brought you breakfast, Daddy!" Bella beamed.

Bruce pushed back his cowl, his whole demeanour softening as he smiled. "I see that, Bells, thank you. Looks delicious."

"Well, Alfred made it, but me and Mommy carried it!"

"We have another houseguest," Diana murmured to him.

He quirked an eyebrow. "Damien?"

She nodded with a smile. "He must have remembered. They're all asleep upstairs now."

Bruce nodded, though Diana thought he looked surprised. She couldn't imagine why. Damien's family coming back together — just as their own had — could only be a natural thing. Surely Bruce hadn't had a different expectation?

* * *

Bella woke with an aching neck and a deeply conflicted heart. Her eyes opened to the sight of her son slumbering peacefully against her husband's chest. No, not her husband. Ex. God, things would be so much simpler if he were still her husband. Her thoughts flickered back to the exact moment they had ceased to be married. The way Damien's pen had flowed smoothly, assuredly, as he signed here, initialled there. He'd used a cheap plastic biro. Bella had used her mother's elegant, antique fountain pen, forty years old — and her signature had been barely legible, her hands had shaken that badly. But a signature was a signature, and legal was legal. Start to finish the entire process had taken no more than a few weeks. There was no marriage counselling first, no tedious, endless negotiations with lawyers. Just the one meeting with the lawyers, in fact.

* * *

_Damien was late. She hadn't heard if there was a League emergency keeping him — presumably not then. Presumably, sparing her pain by getting it done as soon as possible wasn't high on his list of priorities._

_She fiddled with her wedding band while time ticked on. Not for the first time, she considered removing it. She always ended up deciding not to. It was a symbol of her commitment and devotion to Damien, and in her heart, it would always be that way. There would never be anyone else. And … there might be a tiny, meagre part of her that honestly believed he'd change his mind. That there had to be some _reason _for all of this. She had one last-ditch thing to try. _

_Her lawyer, Petrice Amargen, had noticed her fiddling. "I'm sure he'll be here soon, Mrs Wayne. And if he isn't, I'm sure we can make him pay for it in the settlement." _

"_Damien doesn't have anything material," she said. _

"_There's always something, Mrs Wayne," Patrice smiled smugly. Her smile faded a little as she carried on though. "Um- Are you quite sure he won't be bringing representation? It's just that without the protection of a pre-nup-"_

"_I can assure you, Ms Amargen, I have no desire for anything of Bella's." Damien entered the room and sat down on the opposite side of the table from them. _

"_Oh, well … good. In that case we can get on with the details. Hopefully we should have this whole thing sorted out in no time. Now, obviously the most important issue facing us is the custody of your son. Your Highness, my client is more than happy for the two of you to share-" _

"_Bella can have full custody of Bruce," Damien said quietly. _

_She couldn't help the stabbing shock in her chest. _What? _Seeing the expression on her face, Damien gave an uneasy smile. "Themyscira's not really the place for a child." _

"_I'll buy you a house," she said curtly, knowing that was bullshit and determined to call him on it. _

"_I told you: I don't want anything from you." _

"_I think you've made that _abundantly _clear," she snarled, "but you can't tell me that for _Bruce-"

"_Bruce will have the whole of Wayne Manor to play around in. I hardly think he needs another home in the city too." _

_Petrice broke the icy silence nervously. "A-alright, um … The next topic is slightly unusual, but given your identity as Wonder Warrior, it is something my client feels strongly should be addressed. In the event that your son develops your … meta powers, Mrs Wayne is anxious to ensure he will have access to any and all training and guidance—" _

"_I've already spoken to Kel-Al about her helping him. She is more than familiar with super-strength and flight-" _

"_Bruce is _your _son," Bella growled. _

"_Obviously Kel will only step in if I can't be there for him." _

"_Prince, for God's sake, you can't- You can't _want _this!" She swallowed, looking him full in the face. There was nothing but grim determination in his gaze, but she summoned her courage to ask. "Damien. Do you really, _truly_ want to divorce me?" _

_There was no hesitation in his response. "Yes." _

_A fresh wave of despair washed over her. He wouldn't, couldn't lie. So there was no point in staying. She pushed to her feet. "Fine then." _

_Patrice spluttered as she looked up at her client. "But— But, Mrs Wayne, we have so much more to go through-" _

"_I agree to anything he wants," she said. _

_Petrice barely held back a gasp at this near-suicide her client had just committed. "Mrs Wayne, you're _clearly _distressed, of course you don't mean-"_

"_Petrice," she said from the doorway, voice wavering, "_he can have anything he wants. _Give him the whole damn company for all I care. None of it matters."_

* * *

At the time, none of it _had _mattered. Damien honestly wanted to divorce her. Ergo he did not love her. Ergo the entire world had ended. Of course, she'd got back to the manor, threaded the broken pieces of herself back together and carried on; but right at that moment, it was all gone. Now it was back again, held out on a silver platter for her to pick up and feast again. But she left the food untouched, the cup untasted. It was a poisoned chalice. For now. Until she found an antidote.

Quietly, Bella got up and left the two of them sleeping. She collected a cup of coffee from the kitchen and went down to the cave. She found little Bella seated in her father's lap, pressing every button she could reach and making Batman wince every time she opened up a window he couldn't close quick enough. Or nearly remotely-launching the Batwing. Or tried to release a high-frequency pulse that would have sent every bat in the place cartwheeling around. Diana looked on, smiling a little but seeming pensive.

Bella cleared her throat to let them know she was there, and the princess turned with a smile that was a little too hopeful. "Bella! I trust — you all slept well?"

"Damien and Bruce are still asleep."

"And yourself?"

"Slept better than I have in a while," she admitted.

"I'm very glad to hear it. What do you plan to do today?"

"Steal a Japanese businessman's property, I believe," she stated conversationally, knowing that wasn't what Diana had meant, or was hoping for.

"Oh, I had forgotten. Did Catman manage to work out a plan, then?"

She nodded. "May I borrow the Batwing?"

Diana glanced back at her family. "I scarcely think Bruce could stop you at the moment."

Batwoman smirked and went after to where she'd left her mask and the cape, putting them both on.

"You're going now?" Diana called after her.

"Why wouldn't I?" she muttered as she climbed into the Batwing. "Nothing to do or say here."

* * *

**A/N: Review please!**


	16. Style Over Substance

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! And sorry about the slight delay in posting this chapter.**

**Chapter Fifteen — Style Over Substance**

Bruce's elbow woke Damien — specifically, the point of it digging into his ribs. The prince didn't mind the discomfort. It had dragged him from a deeply unpleasant memory. He'd been dreaming it, but he knew it was a memory. He _remembered _the bravery and will in every line of Bella's body, _remembered _the pleading note obvious in her voice as she'd tried to force the truth from him. He'd gone to that meeting prepared for her to ask him directly if he intended to go all the way to dissolve their marriage. He'd not been prepared for the bleak desolation his affirmation had been met with. He thought she would be stoic, be controlled. Would not allow herself to be vulnerable before an enemy. And he was absolutely sure that was what she would regard him as. Declaring defeat, offering surrender and relinquishing everything she had (and he would never forget "Give him the whole damn company for all I care") had nearly undone him. She'd not looked back at him as she left. If she had, she would have seen his mouth open, ready to call her back and tell her he wanted nothing more than her safety and love. In their wedding vows they had sworn to share each others strength and weakness. Bella had followed that to the letter, and exposed her deepest pain to him—and in doing so, made herself more immovable than Damien had ever seen her.

He looked across to where she had been. She was absent now, but hadn't been gone long; the pillow she'd rested her head on was still dented a little. Bruce was still happily slumbering against him, the side of his face imprinted and a little red from being pressed against Damien's clothing all night. His breathing was deep and even, with no sign that he hadn't always slept this peacefully. Damien would spend the rest of his immortal life making sure he did. Except … how to go about that?

The reasons for his departure still stood. It was still out there, still threatening all the countless worlds and innocent people. It could still swoop in and destroy everything he held dear, _erase _it from existence altogether. There would be no Bella, no Bruce, no trace of them in the past, present or future. It would all be snuffed out. Clearly, Damien could not abandon his family once again. But equally clearly, he could not in good conscience put them in harm's way. If he could, he must try and persuade Bella to take their son and leave for their world. He knew he chances of success were somewhat less than slim. He had no idea which words, if any, could be used to work on his wife. But if he had no idea, then perhaps the other him did.

Moving gently, Damien manoeuvred his to the couch cushions and then headed in search of either Bella or Diana. He found Diana first, though the tail-end of the Batwing told him Bella had gone. Where she had gone, he had no idea.

"Good morning, Damien," Diana said, breaking into his thoughts.

He smiled at her obvious relief in finding him aware and remembering. He offered her his arm. "Sister."

Diana grinned and took it, grasping his wrist and embracing him. "Welcome back, brother."

"Thank you. It is certainly good to be back. To be full of my own knowledge."

"I can imagine." She turned to her daughter. "Bells, I think you can go watch Sponge Bob now if you want!"

"Oooh, yay! Thank you for letting me play, Daddy!" the little girl responded, racing up the stairs to the manor.

"You named her after Bella?" Damien asked.

"Of course. Bella is the reason Bruce and I are together now," Diana smiled. "Surely you can't be surprised?"

"No, not … surprised. I take it I just missed my Bella?" he asked, pointing at the tunnel which the plane had just taken.

Diana nodded, looking uncomfortable. "Yes, she's gone to the Watchtower I think. There's still the plan to steal Perseus' artefacts."

"With Catman," Damien suddenly recalled. "He's here, isn't he?"

"He is," Batman said. "And his plan is sound, and we need those artefacts."

"I know," Damien said. "I know, yes. Don't worry. I've no intention of flying up there and demanding he leave."

"He'll be gone soon enough," Diana soothed.

Damien nodded, though his thoughts were very much elsewhere. Namely on the moment he'd interrupted before. The two of them, alone, the atmosphere so thick he might have cut it with a knife. At the time he'd thought nothing of it — what was Batwoman to him? — but now … Now, with his full knowledge of the history between them and the history between _them_, it gained its full suspicious significance. What had they been doing? Why had the door been shut at all? That Sebastian Kyle still wanted Bella was obvious. What man wouldn't? But Bella … she had cast him out of Gotham and her life long ago. Surely she wouldn't turn her back on Damien now—

No. Why wouldn't she? She was unshackled by marriage. Unshackled by any obligation to him, certainly. And she was hurting.

Diana, reading his mind clearly, touched his arm gently. "Don't worry. She loves you. It'll shine through."

"I hope you're right."

Bruce got up from the giant computer screen, causing the computer to shut off. There was a brief squeeze of fingers between husband and wife, then Batman headed for some much-needed rest. Once he was gone, Damien spoke again. "Diana? Where do we go from here?"

"With the Medusas?" She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck and then dragging her fingers through her thick black hair. "I am not sure. We cannot abandon any part of it. Not our duty to the gods and not our homes. There must be a compromise, but I admit we should carry on as a team, with the rest of the League. That way we'll not be alone, at least."

"That is what I thought."

"And it will give you a chance to renew your relationships," Diana smiled.

"And that too."

"Well, shall we start now, and make the children breakfast?"

* * *

Bella couldn't hold back a slight wince as the alarms went off, blaring loudly and at ear-piercing pitch. She knew it was all part of Sebastian's plan, but the alert being sounded when she was breaking and entering (if not quite stealing) didn't do anything to set her at ease.

She was waiting in the escape tunnel; the old sewage system that ran underneath the huge house. Any moment now, Seb should be creeping down here with Perseus' shield and helmet. Valuable weapons against any more Medusas they had to go up against.

The faint sound of footsteps sounded, and then Seb came out of the gloom. "Did you get away clean?" she demanded.

Seb winked. "Of course I—"

They both ducked when a shot rang out, a bullet pinging off the tunnel wall above their heads. A shout echoed throughout the tunnels that Bella translated as, "Stop, thieves!". When the gunman appeared, she was ready for him, materialising out of the shadows to kick his knees out from under him, then grabbing his arm and bending his wrist back far and quickly enough to break it. Then she slammed his head against the stone floor, and he slumped, out cold.

"What did you do?" she hissed furiously at Sebastian.

"Well if I had the chance to take both then I wasn't going to let it pass was I?" He pulled out Sakanoue no Tamurasmaro's helmet too.

"That was _not _in the plan!"

"I know, but it occurred to me — why just move it when I can grab it?"

"Because we don't need it!"

"Do you have any idea how much this will be worth on the black—"

"Put it back."

"But—"

"_Now_," she glared.

WIth a tightening of his mouth, Seb compromised by placing the shogun's helmet on the floor next to the unconscious guard. It would have to satisfy Batwoman; there was no time to go back now. As it was, they were pursued on the way back to the Batwing. The thick forest meant that the guards' guns were rendered almost useless, but this being Japan, guns were only one method of stopping the thieves. But Bella was still the master, and Seb … well, she'd give Seb an eight point five for effort. The guard in front of Bella was now being punched into a tree face-first. As he went down, her leg went out in a roundhouse that took another one under the jaw; he reared backwards, and she grabbed his shoulders, slamming her knee into his face and then punching him out. She turned to find a six inch knife heading towards her torso — she could have deflected the blow, and was preparing to do so, when Sebastian jumped down from nowhere, right on top of the guard. He'd already taken out another three.

"What would you do without me?"

"I _wouldn't _be running for my life through Japanese woodland!"

"Details, details, darling."

"Keep moving!"

By the time they got to the cloaked plane, there was an exhilarated smile on Seb's face, and Bella found it hard not to grin back despite herself. Much as she disapproved, Seb really did live for this kind of risk. "Ok, now you _have _to tell me I'm a genius. Who else could have pulled that off?"

_I can't think of anyone, _she said to herself. "You've got style, Seb. Shame it normally triumphs over substance."

She'd used an acerbic tone designed to wound, and it worked; Seb's mouth quickly closed, his smile fading. They entered the Batwing in silence and headed into orbit. "Batwoman to Watchtower, come in."

"_Watchtower receiving, Batwoman. Go ahead, over._"

"Mission was successful, we're returning now. Have the hangar bay readied."

There was a slight pause, then the answer came. "_Hangar bay 1 readied._"

"Batwoman out."

The flight was strained — she felt she should tell Seb what had happened, but at the same time she didn't know what it meant herself. And that would be Seb's first question: what did it mean? Was that it, were things back to how they had been and Seb was banished once more? Used for his skills and then discarded? Was she just going to bury her feelings of betrayal and get on with it, reconcile with Damien? Go back to playing happy families? All questions to which she had no answers.

When they got to the Watchtower, they put the artefacts under lock and key, and then finally faced each other. "Guess I go back now," Seb said.

She said nothing. She knew she should say yes, but equally knew she didn't want him to go. Instead, what came out of her mouth was, "Damien remembers."

Half of Sebastian's face was covered by his mask, but she still read his expression like the page of a book. Resignation, anger, sadness. Even a little bit of hope, still. He gestured to an empty room than was little more than a storage closet. But it had a door, and it could be made private. Once they were closeted in there, Seb leaned his head on the door.

"Jesus, Bella, you talk about _me_ being style over substance …"

She frowned. "What?"

"What am I supposed to do with that?" he demanded. "Why tell me?"

"I … You deserved to know."

"Know what? That you've made your choice again, is that it? You're taking him back and I'm going home?"

"You're not going home yet," she said, answering neither question.

"What do you want from me?" he demanded, emphasising every word.

"I want you to ground me," she replied calmly, none of the emotional turmoil showing now. Truth flowed honestly. "I'm breaking into a thousand pieces, and you keep me — keep this — together. It's pathetic that I need you. It's weak. And I am ashamed of it. But it is fact. I merely felt the need to inform you of an update to our situation."

Seb folded his arms. "You sound like a robot when you do that."

"I'm not a robot. But maybe I need to be a monster right now."

"And you need another creature to keep your company."

Silence fell. He'd either say yes or no. If no, another strategy would be found and put into place. If yes …

"Well, can't deny I've taken advantage of you in in the past," Seb said lightly after some thought. "Seems only fair now, I guess, that you do the same. I'll stay."

She didn't thank him, because Batwoman didn't thank anybody. She let the quickest possible sigh leave her lips though.

"_But_," Seb continued, "I am more than style, Bella. So while we're on the topic of _substance_—"

He lowered his head slightly and kissed her fiercely, gathering her to his black-clad chest. He wasn't tender, but was every bit as passionate and intense as Damien had been last night. She could be in no doubt of what emotion lay behind it. As the clear, conscious thought of _He loves me_ crossed her mind, panic started to rise. Logic checked it. She knew Seb well enough to realise that he was not offering anything beyond himself. And himself was inconstant, fickle, whimsical. Perfect. Without a second thought, Batwoman wound her arms around his shoulders and kissed back unreservedly. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, as this time it was Seb who pushed her back against the door, his gloved fingers roving over her body. She moaned, arching against him, pulling his mask off so she could run her fingers through short dark hair. When his hands ghosted over her chest, she felt her body respond, nipples stiffening even through the kevlar.

They were interrupted by a janitor opening the door. He was halfway to reaching for his map before he realised what he was about to grab was Batwoman's ass.

"Oh my God! Uh, man, I'm sorry, I didn't—"

Bella turned her head just enough to deliver a needle-sharp glare. With a terrified grimace and wide eyes, the janitor backed out again. Batwoman rested her cheek against Sebastian's for a moment. Just as well. There were things to do.

Quietly, she pulled away from him, only to be stopped by his hand around her wrist. "Come back, tonight. You know where I'll be. Come to me."

She gazed at him for what seemed like a long time, then left, heading for the manor. The cave was devoid of anyone else; she assumed the children were at school, Bruce could still be in bed and she figured Diana and Damien were probably together somewhere. Hopefully Damien wasn't watching the security feed of the Watchtower storage closets. The last thing she needed right now was a jealous ex-husband. But they did need to talk, eventually — and they would. Just as soon as she knew what to say.

For now, she logged on to the computer, looking to see if Batman had uncovered anything about Prometheus. It didn't look promising. At least not yet. Leaving it for now, she went upstairs to take a shower. By the time she'd washed her hair, a tray of lunch had been left by the side of her bed. It smelled delicious, and when she lifted the cloche it was to find a smoked salmon and spinach tartlet, buttered new potatoes and a watercress salad. "God bless you, Alfred," she murmured, tucking in.

The meal was exquisite, but even it was tinged with an edge of melancholy. She missed Winifred. The older woman had been everything to her for decades — parent, friend, helper, carer, confidant. Advisor. She was probably in desperate need of Winifred's advice now. Even more so because she didn't feel as though she did. Normally when she felt like she was in control, it meant she was making enormous mistakes. In hindsight at least.

After eating, she dressed carefully. She had to find Damien and at least tell him they had Perseus' armaments. The topic would move on from there, and he would wish to discuss their future. Even if he was too delicate to bring it up, it would be the elephant in the room. She needed something to wear that she wasn't going to look appealing in. For now, at least, things had to remain professional. Eventually she selected a Gotham knights football jersey and a pair of jeans, pulling her brunette hair into a ponytail. She put on a little more makeup than was normal — Damien had always preferred her beauty to remain natural.

She headed downstairs and found Alfred measuring out flour, butter and sugar into separate bowls. Curious, she asked what he was doing.

"The children expressed a desire to bake cookies when they returned home from school. Preparing ingredients in this way beforehand often avoids clouds of flour and floods of sugar, I've found."

"Good idea."

"Has your …"

"Winifred." "Winifred, thank you, madam — has Winifred never thought to try the same idea?"

"I don't know, I don't think so. Either that or she's never tried baking with both myself and Bruce. Possibly not brave enough?"

"Quite. I can understand why she may have some trepidation on that account."

"Would you happen to know where—"

"I be believe the prince and princess took a couple of horses for a ride out on the cliff."

"Thank you, Alfred."

She went out to the stables and collected a horse, unsurprised to find the same horses in Bruce's stables as were in hers. She imagined he probably got more use out of them now than he had in years past. She still remembered when her horses were kept purely for maintaining her reputation, using them to lose polo matches or seduce her flings-of-the-moment. It wasn't until Damien, and sharing his joy at the animals, that she'd rediscovered her own love of riding.

She saddled a horse and rode out to where Alfred had indicated, seeing the silhouettes of Damien and Diana on their mounts, looking out over the sunlight ocean while they talked. They turned as Bella cantered up, Damien's eyes lighting up at the sight of her. _Damn. Not wearing enough makeup._

Diana didn't try to come up with a polite excuse, she just smiled and said, "I'll leave you."

Bella dismounted, and Damien did the same. "We got Perseus' armaments," she said. "Wasn't as easy as it was supposed to be, but we got them."

Damien nodded. "So Catman is gone now?"

"No," she shook her head. "Not yet. He's still needed."

Damien opened his mouth to demand why, then seemed to realise he'd no right to know. "At least we'll be able to take down more Medusas now."

"Did you ask the gods?"

"In my prayers," he nodded, "but they didn't answer. Perhaps it's a question I need to ask them face to face."

"Maybe. Do you intend to do that?"

"Yes."

"Good."

A pause. "Bruce and I missed you this morning. You weren't there when we woke."

"There were things to do. There still are."

"Then I want to do them with you," he said. "I want to stay with you, whatever we do next. We're together again, and I want to keep it that way."

"You don't want to take Bruce home? We could you know."

Damein sighed. "My love, if that is a test, than I am afraid I will fail. There are things to do here, you know there are," he said, taking her hand. She tried to half-heartedly pull away, but Damien did not let go. "We used to come up here before Bruce was born, do you remember?"

"Not here. Not this here."

"We'd walk or ride here in the evenings. Stay out until after dark sometimes. You … You asked me …"

"To marry me," she murmured. "I proposed almost on this exact spot."

As she said it, memories crowded up, breaking over her like a wave and irresistibly pulling her down.

* * *

_The small black box was in her pocket. She knew it was. She knew Winifred had chilled champagne ready and waiting at the manor. She knew it was a glorious sunset without a breath of wind. The waves crashing against the cliff provided a perfect soundtrack. And she was as certain as she could be (92.8%) that Damien would say yes. _

" … _so then, naturally, there's Flash with yogurt all over her face and My'ri'ah made herself _incorporeal _laughing!" _

_When Bella managed only a weak smile, Damien's handsome face creased into a frown. "What's wrong? You love stories about Flash making a fool of herself." _

"_I know. Sorry, honey. I have … something on my mind." _

"_Then share it, so I can help," he said simply. _

_She laughed nervously and thought, _Well, there's my opening. _Screwing up her courage, she pulled out the ring box and dropped to one knee. Shit, her hands were actually _clammy_. Ignoring that, she focused on Damien's face. His eyes were very wide, his jaw beginning to go slack. He might not have grown up in Women's World, but he recognised the significance of what was happening._

"_Prince, I don't have the words to tell you what you make me feel, and I'm pretty sure it's not within my power or vocabulary to express it. To borrow from Austen — if I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But the one thing I can say is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be able to call you my husband, have kids with you, if we can. You say you want to help me?" She opened the ring box. It was white-gold band studded with small, sparkling diamonds. Elegant, but not too ostentatious. "You can say yes," she finished finally. _

_Damien was silent only for about twenty seconds. And for eighteen of those seconds, he was kissing her, floating both of them into the sky. "By Zeus, _yes_."_

* * *

Drawing in a sharp breath, Bella pulled her hand from Damien's. Her lips physically tingled, still feeling the imprint of a kiss Damien had placed there years ago. From the shocked look on Damien's face, he had experienced the same thing.

"What by the Elysian Fields was that?"

* * *

**A/N: Review please! **


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